Burning Daylight
by HellsingDMC
Summary: Ever wondered how Clementine's doing after a few years of meeting the Cabin Survivors? What about her and Luke's friendship? Nick and hers? Or Nick and Luke's? Something's falling apart somewhere. After dealing with Carver, a new threat is on the horizon and could be potentially hunting them down as we speak.. Who lives? Who dies? Who knows.
1. Chapter 1 Meeting The Family

_Is this really worth fighting for? Staying alive and constantly being thrown into dangerous situations just to find food, water, or shelter…? People we come across say we're lucky that we still have our minds and are survivors. Personally, I think they're wrong about that. _

_I'd rather be dead than live the rest of my life in fear._

I take a deep breath and sigh extremely loud, sitting on the wooden steps that descend towards the decaying outside world. I start drawing pictures in the dirt with a stick, while I wait patiently for Luke and Nick to return from fishing.

_It's dangerous to wait alone outside nowadays. But I know I'm being watched from the window by Alvin and Rebecca._

And with that being said, their subtle conversation can be heard within the wooden frame of the cabin. Not loud enough to match words to the mumbles; but loud enough to know that they are there.

I smirk, looking up towards the clear late afternoon sky. My head pounds a lot, it's probably because of the sun, so I shouldn't really worry as much.

It's been a few years since I met this group; I met them here at this cabin when Luke and Pete found me. Not the best introduction I was looking for; being thrown into the shed and all. That dog bite did kinda resemble a Lurker's bite to be quite honest though... So I don't really hold it against them. They did the right thing; in a way. Pete was bitten a day after the shed incident, when him, Nick, and I went down to the lake. Alvin almost lost his life due to Carver when he tracked us down at the Ski Lodge; instead he shot Walter and Matt. Sarah, Bonnie and Sarita were devoured during the escape from Carver's camp with Jane. Not much happened since, considering those events happened roughly a few years ago. Kenny, however... Went insane... I don't know what's eating him, but he's not the same anymore.

The wind starts to pick up a little on the sunny late afternoon. The trees sway back and forth, while whatever's left of the birds chirp cheerfully throughout the dark, miserable forest.

My stomach grumbles, just imagining the delicious fish they'll bring back.

_Maybe they'll find something else that's good too, or some cans of food. I'm getting sick of eating fish all the time._

Ignoring the constant rumbles, I continue scratching into the dirt with the brittle stick; it's mainly a bunch of circles and patterns; nothing too fancy.

The wind picks up, blowing the few strands of hair I have sticking out of my hat. I feel as if someone; or something caresses my cheek gently.

_Lee taught me everything I know. Hiding, keeping my hair short, trusting others, and even teaching me how to shoot a gun. But most of all; he taught me how to be fearless from these Lurkers and to kill them without hesitation._

The sound of a branch cracking close to the forest edge grabs my attention; my hand immediately reaches for the small revolver I keep in my pocket that Lee gave to me before arriving to Savannah.

_Shit._

My heart rapidly pounds inside my chest, causing the adrenaline to kick in a little.

Relieved, I see a small brown rabbit sprint by instead of one of the rotting undead.

"Oh thank god..." I breathe easily, pointing the loaded gun towards the cute critter, following his movements so we can have some variety to choose from tonight.

The trigger clicks, the deafening sound rings loud and clear throughout the dull forest, the rabbit lets out a small screech before falling limp, and the blood drips down from the bullet wound through the skull.

_Damn, I've gotten better._

I smirk, standing up from the steps and walking towards the kill that's a few feet away, picking up the limp rabbit by the ears.

_I hope I didn't ruin it..._

Suddenly, the front door opens to the massive cabin, secluded in the middle of nowhere. Out steps Carlos; the group's doctor. With a slight concerning gaze in his eyes; bouncing between the fishing path leading far away from the house, and the gun that's still in my hand.

"Was that gunfire?" He narrows his eyes, suspicious about our surroundings.

_Shit._

I whip around, looking at him with a sorrowful expression; maybe he'll go easy on me.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking; I was just hungry..." I stammer a little, it is the truth after all. Carlos still terrifies me sometimes. He can be the nicest person in the world, until you say something that sets him off. But lately he's been suspicious of me for no reason at all.

His eyes soften a little.

"Then let's hope you didn't alert any Walkers. Bring the rabbit; we'll combine it with what the boys bring back."

_I could've sworn he was about to lecture me._

I grin a little, walking back towards the cabin's dusty steps. Looking directly at Carlos, who keeps his eyes focused on the dirt path to the lake.

Carlos has been less active lately, ever since his daughter was eaten alive. I felt bad for Sarah in a way; after all Carlos tried to raise her in a "zombie free" world and didn't really teach her much about survival. If she knew this would have been easily avoided. I have a feeling that he became a doctor in the first place for her sake, based on how protective he was of her. I never told him but, I kept that picture she made me take of herself when I first joined the group, along with Lee's in my pocket. I just don't want to upset him if he sees her.

I sit back down on the step, leaving the dead critter on the same step beside me. Joining Carlos and looking towards the lake path.

_Luke... Please come back soon, you promised we'd play cards._

I pick up the stick again, and continue to make circles. While the late afternoon sun pounds against us with such heat.

_Why does it have to be so hot? Why can't it just snow, or rain a little…_

"The calm before the storm…" Carlos mutters to himself, watching the skies as well as the outer edge of the forest, clearly taking note of how quickly the seasons have been changing lately.

_It's as if he read my mind, I'm a bit worried now…_

"Huh?" My eyes glance up to meet his while he avoids mine hastily.

"Nothing." He ends the conversation on that note.

_He knows something, but what?_

My head throbs a little; I should probably head inside soon and get some water.

A few minutes tick by, nothing but the sound of the wind, the rustling trees, and the birds break the awkward silence between Carlos and me.

"Any sign of Luke? Or Nick for that matter?" He breaks the silence, taking a seat right next to me, still darting his eyes around in case any unwanted visitors show up.

I hesitate a little.

_If I say no he might get worried, I'm a bit worried for Luke's sake… Nick kinda scares me a little, always being drunk and all. I barely remember him sober._

He holds my gaze, demanding an answer.

Nick and I were both stuck in a shed a few miles from here a year or so ago. It's been so long that I don't even remember. He wanted to drink and gave up on surviving. He also had a very bad habit of randomly firing off the shotgun Pete gave him. He developed a very high tolerance for alcohol ever since.

"I- I don't know..." I admit defeat and look down; dropping the stick in the tiny collage of pictures I had just drawn.

His eyes narrow even more.

"Well, that is a bit odd." He bites his tongue, as if he's holding back on telling me what he's really thinking of.

The sun slowly drifts behind a huge cloud, taking off some of the heat from us. Leaving us with a subtle cool breeze, that floats around the forest.

I lean my head against the broken railing, pretending to ignore his attitude while my eyes stick to the fishing path.

_I may only be fifteen, but I can assure you I can handle the worse. I've lost Lee, Krista, and Omid. I'm sure the thought of losing someone else just as important to me won't faze me much. I wouldn't like it, but I could probably handle it… I hope._

Just as Carlos was beginning to fear the worse; Luke starts to emerge from the forest path, kinda hard to miss a dull orange sweater amongst the green trees in my opinion. He carries two large trout with him along with a huge grin on his face.

"I knew they weren't attacked." I mutter loud enough for Carlos to hear. So that way he knows I knew where he was getting at.

He smiles.

"I know."

"Hey kiddo, look what I caught for the both of us!" Luke picks up the pace while Nick sluggishly moves along, not even going to attempt to catch up. Carrying five more trout in his hands and his rifle strapped to his back, along with a sour expression dripping from his sulky behavior.

_Luke's smile brightens my day a little, making me forget about Sarah. We used to play cards, and read old books together sometimes... Yeah, at times she was annoying. But her friendship made me forget about the outside world._

"Oh! Some for Clementine and not for the rest of us I see." Carlos laughs, teasing the poor kid while he approaches us, standing right in front of me with his bright smile.

Everyone usually teases Luke now that me and him are even closer, especially Rebecca and Carlos. I wonder if it has anything to do with how protective he is over me lately.

I can't help but gaze at Luke while he quickly talks to Carlos a little about catching the fish, his eyes keep glancing over at mine from time to time, eventually he flashes a quick smile in my direction.

_I can't keep my eyes off of him._

Luke rolls his eyes at Carlos after he finishes his long rant.

"Nick did better than I did. Hell, I was lucky that I even caught these two-" he was cut off by looking down next to me and the bloody animal.

"Who shot that?" Intrigued, he bends down and picks it up by the ears, checking out the bullet wound straight through the head and grinning a little.

Carlos nods in my direction, while he watches Nick carefully. Taking note of the type of mood he's in.

_Why is Nick acting so weird? Did they run into anything, or anyone back there?_

Luke's chocolate brown eyes widen.

"Good job, kiddo."

"Thanks..." I look down a little, hiding my small smile.

_He still calls me 'kiddo' after all this time. Clearly I've outgrown my cute skirt and adorable sweater. I wonder how he sees me in his eyes..._

Nick approaches us eventually, looking a bit worried, and very edgy, keeping Carlos on his toes.

"What happened?" Carlos notices Nick's strange personality; narrowing his eyes at him just a bit.

He looks up at him with sad, fragile blue eyes, opening his mouth a tiny bit.

"Pete was back there..."

My heart sinks to the ground, even though I barely knew him; I could tell me and him would get along just fine.

Pete was bitten a couple years ago when Nick, him and I went fishing to the same spot. We found the group that attacked me and Christa and the man that killed her as well, all dead. Pete was grabbed and bitten and there was no point of saving him. It took Nick a very long time to forgive me for the decision I made.

My heart does this funny little jolt, forcing me to look up and meet Luke's gaze that he keeps on me at all times it seems.

His smirk fades and his expression grows worried. Switching the fish and rabbit to his right hand, he kneels down towards my eye level.

"Hey kid, you alright?" He smiles softly for my sake, putting his hand on my shoulder. But his eyes tell me he's worried beyond belief.

_I don't want to seem weak; I'm already the youngest. If I say I feel lonely because Sarah isn't here anymore I might upset Carlos. If I say I feel bad for leaving Pete I'd destroy Nick... Should I warn him about the sudden change in weather instead? Maybe he already noticed just like how Carlos did._

"N-nothing Luke, just; the weather's been slightly off..." I tell a half-truth, considering the weather has been off lately as well. It rained all morning, and yesterday it was very humid and very hot.

"She's right, it's only October; supposed to be colder." Carlos agrees. As if he's been wondering the same thing.

Luke's eyes question me carefully before picking himself up. He then offers me his hand, giving Carlos a fearful look.

A few snarls can be heard around the thick forest, the smell of the rotting flesh wasn't left behind either. Surely if we stay out here too long we'll draw attention to ourselves.

_And there goes my perfect day._

"Let's head inside. We've been out here for too long." Luke turns quiet and protective; clenching the fish and rabbit in one hand, holding my hand in the other.

I smile softly, the feeling of his warm hand holding mine gently sends tingles down my spine.

The sky slowly darkens; the sunset's pretty colours glisten across the sky and reflect on the lake that's vaguely visible through the trees far off into the distance. The sound of crickets chirping and the croaks of frogs begin to emerge from all sorts of corners in the forest. Don't forget the awful, stomach churning groans and snarls too.

He pulls me up off the steps, as we head in through the door inside the cabin. Nick and Carlos hurry on in behind us. Locking the door and barricading it with a thick bookshelf that's inside.

_What's wrong with everyone? They seem so tense and scared... It was just a noise; surely they're not too close._

I look up at him, his brown eyes fixated on the living room as we move towards the colourful space. He's still holding my hand from helping me up earlier.

He glances down at me briefly, feeling my eyes on him.

"What? Oh- sorry, I didn't mean to-" He shyly drops my hand, looking towards Rebecca and Alvin who are sitting on the couch discussing about what to do next, while he sets down the trout in the sink, and the rabbit on an old dish towel on the kitchen counter.

Rebecca and Alvin are married, Carver raped her a couple years ago and she didn't tell Alvin at all. She didn't tell any of us really, but it's very obvious it happened. Considering she helped Kenny kill him, and Carver kept mentioning her and the baby a lot. The two are inseparable, yet they argue so much.

"It's okay Luke..." I quietly reply, assuring him with a small, cheerful smile.

He and Nick treat me well ever since I joined. Luke never leaves my side, and Nick protects me even though he's drunk half the time. Sometimes I wonder if they've changed in the few years I've known them. I haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary except the occasional silent treatment the two give each other every so often.

"Yeah Luke, the girl's alright." Rebecca teases, slyly grinning at him while Alvin chuckles. Clearly they've been keeping their eye on us, and they find something about it adorable.

"I just- didn't want it to be awkward-" He protests, trying to defend himself.

"You weren't awkward." I assure him quietly.

Rebecca smiles.

"Awkward? Honey please," She smirks again, teasing Luke. While the rest snicker a little except for Nick, who glares angrily. Picking up the bottle of whiskey he left on the table and taking swigs from it now and then.

_I don't understand how someone can just pick up a bottle and continue to drink all throughout the night without getting sick, Nick's actions makes me worry._

Rebecca's always picked on Luke ever since he and I became closer. Sometimes he takes it seriously, other times; he goes along with it.

Luke smiles slyly at her, playing along with her this time.

"Guess I'm in love." He sarcastically jokes, looking down at me with a really sarcastic grin. Carlos snorts, looking in the other direction. Alvin coughs a little and Nick glares, gripping the newly opened bottle of rum.

"Uhh..." I look at them all with a confused look, Luke smirks, thinking that I know that he's joking.

_Did he just...? What's going on here? Is it another one of Rebecca's jokes?_

His eyes widen a little, realizing that I'm taking it seriously.

"I'm kiddin' Clem, promise."

I blankly stare at him.

"Okay... Can we play cards now?"

He looks down a little, avoiding my gaze.

My heart shatters a little, Sarah taught me some card games and that's what we did to pass time when she was alive, Luke always said he'd join us but he always found an excuse to avoid it.

"Sorry kid, maybe tomorrow. I didn't think it would get this late." Luke grins a little, sitting down on the other couch. While he motions to me to sit beside him on the empty cushion.

_I was really looking forward to that too..._

I smile a little to hide my disappointment; he always wants me around him a lot. I lower my head down so no one notices.

_My heart is happy. I don't know why, but I've just been in a better mood ever since Luke came back. I don't think about Sarah as much as I do when he's gone._

Carlos stands by the sink, with a knife in his hand; cleaning out the fish and the rabbit, so we can eat tonight. The stench is horrendous; surprisingly it isn't making him flinch at all...

My head aches some more, I'll have to ask if there's any painkillers after dinner if this doesn't die down. I'm beginning to think it's not heatstroke.

Carlos still follows along with the conversations between Alvin and Rebecca as they decide what to do what's best for the baby when "it" comes. Considering none of us know what gender it's going to be, we've resorted to calling the baby "it."

_That horrible smell... It's worse than the Lurkers._

The disgusting smell that hits you like a sack of bricks the second you cut open a rabbit interrupts Alvin and Rebecca's conversation with some brief gagging.

"Man that stinks." She waves her hand in front of her nose, trying to keep it away.

I gag a little, trying not to puke as well.

"They say you can't clean and eat a rabbit in the same day; we don't really have a choice." Luke smirks, noticing how disgusted I am by the smell. Clearly he's used to it.

"If I knew it would've smelt this bad I would've passed on killing it..."

He laughs a little.

"Hey, food is food. Remember that." His crisp brown eyes sparkle.

Rebecca snorts.

"It looks like you've eaten too much food back before this shit-show happened." Rebecca smirks, while Luke tries to hide his.

"Ha-ha, very funny." He rolls his eyes at her, while Alvin smiles a little. Acknowledging the fact that he may be muscular, but he's still a little pudgy.

I love how this group is; I wouldn't change anything about them for all the money in the world. We used to be so uptight and tense back when I first joined, but that's because we had Carver hunting us down like a beast and its prey. Lately we've run into less and less problems so the stress seemed to have melted away.

I sit beside Luke, resting my head on his shoulders and my legs curled up on the couch. He puts his arm around my shoulder, noticing that I don't feel too good.

_I feel safer around him than anyone else. Almost as safe as I felt when I was with Lee..._

To this day talking about Lee is still a touchy subject. Everyone knows about him here especially Kenny who was with us back then. But I can't help but feel that Lee is always watching me from somewhere, we've had a few close calls where I should've died and I ended up pulling through somehow and none of us can explain it; even Carlos.

"You alright, kid?" He calmly asks, while Nick sits down on the opposite side of me, holding the bottle of rum instead and is still taking swigs from it now and then. His blue and white shirt stained with dried Lurker blood, the smell of alcohol strongly emits from his direction.

"I see you finished off the whiskey." Luke glances in his direction while Nick tenses up and growls.

"Fuck off." He drains half the bottle after saying that. Luke sighs, they've been going at it for a few days now; I'm surprised Nick didn't snap and try to start a fight like last night.

Nicks had alcohol problems, ever since this started, he drinks more and more. I don't blame him one bit. I'd do anything to escape this reality too. But I noticed it picked up after the shed incident when him and I were looking for tools and we got trapped inside by Lurkers.

My head still pounds, even from being inside, I shouldn't jump to conclusions just yet, and it's only been half an hour.

"Yeah, I just don't feel too good..." I look up at him, ignoring their little spat; he nods his head in a complete understanding manner.

"It's flu season right about now, I get sick too when the seasons change." Luke assures me, tightening his arm around my shoulder, and glancing over at me every so often.

"Yeah..." I look down towards the floorboards. I feel my cheeks burn up just a tiny bit. Hard to tell if it's from me not feeling good, or Luke's sweet, thick scent that reminds me strangely of my home.

_Maybe I am sick. I'm slightly tired, it's not even dark outside yet, and I'm starting to feel a little clogged up..._

I let out a yawn, stretching my arms in the air before they fall limp at my sides, resting my head against Luke's chest, burying myself deeper into the oddly familiar scent of my home.

_It reminds me of mom and dad…_

I smile softly, I wish they were still alive.

He smirks, taking my hat off and placing it on the cushion between us and Nick; looking for an excuse to bug me like usual.

_I'm too tired to even try..._

His heartbeat thumps wildly against my face; his soft brown eyes look very tired as well.

My head pounds, like I have a head cold or something. I feel my body growing weaker by the minute; I really hope I don't die.

"Where's Jane? She will be missing out on dinner soon." Carlos speaks up; waiting until Rebecca and Alvin finishes their conversation with Nick before speaking. He washes the bloody knife and grabs a few matches; we have a metal garbage can we use to cook food in the back room; since it's not safe to go outside and all.

"I think she's upstairs sleeping, or washing off the Walker guts. She went out to town again, a few days ago remember? She brought back some cans and some water. And Kenny hasn't come out of his room in days." Rebecca's face cringes a little, holding her pregnant belly.

I've known Kenny since we met his family a few years ago. Katjaa, his wife and his son; Duck. We met at a farm and they were spending the night there, Kenny was so happy back then... Suddenly, Duck got bit and we didn't notice, until he started feeling weaker and weaker, eventually, Lee had to shoot him because Kenny couldn't bring himself to. And a few days after we did that, Katjaa shot herself, saying she couldn't live without her son anymore. We got split up for a year in Crawford, we all thought he died, but somehow he survived, and met Sarita, and they became a couple. And just a couple years ago, Sarita got devoured in the group of Lurkers trying to escape Carver's "camp." And ever since then, he's been getting more psychotic lately.

"Now, now, I'm sure this will be all over soon-" Alvin began. Considering the first pregnancy was a horrible reminder to us all.

She glares at him.

"You know nothing about pregnancy. We already lost the first child..." Rebecca looks down towards the floor, avoiding everyone's gaze.

"That baby wasn't even my own."

Alvin glares. That child was a lighter colour than he is, and had Carver's eyes.

A couple years ago she has given birth to a healthy baby boy; Carver's child. But due to him always crying all the time and there being Lurkers everywhere... Jane had to "take care of it" after the first few months due to us almost being invaded and killed. We almost lost Kenny and Nick. So we all decided to have a vote to end her life.

We all feel guilty, we had to make a quick decision; ending a humans life. Even if it wasn't Carver's child, we still had to for the safety of our group.

"Jane had to do the right thing. And don't think that she won't do it again if this one screams even fuckin' louder." Nick mumbles, taking a swig of his alcohol.

The room goes silent, everyone's eyes dart between Nick and Rebecca.

"Fuck man, seriously? That's low." Luke began, unimpressed with what he just said.

"What? It's true." He shrugs it off.

Rebecca's face goes blank, processing the sentence he said to her.

"How could you say such a thing...?" My sad eyes meet his, making him feel some guilt.

"Don't make me come over there and put a beating on your ass-" Rebecca struggles to get up, but Alvin pushes her back down again.

"It's okay Bec, just relax. He's drunk. You have to also think about the baby." He soothes her, glaring at Nick who shrugs, and takes another swig.

_That was a bit rude. Nick's been getting more, mean lately..._

I glare at Nick; he glances over from time to time, looking a bit sad; but refusing to apologize.

Carlos heads to the garbage can in the back room, lighting the fire and placing the trout and the cleaned rabbit in tin foil, taking a few minutes before he comes back, taking a seat in the comfy chair and constantly keeping his eye on the food.

"There's no point in living with regrets. It seemed like an in humane thing to do, Rebecca knows why we did it, and I hope she had forgiven us. But he was making too much noise, and we tried everything to calm him down. It could have been internal problems requiring surgery." Carlos puts an end to the conversation, shutting up the both of them.

_Carlos has a really good point. It is true, babies need care, and there's no way one would survive an outbreak like this..._

Rebecca looks down, sighing deeply and holding back a few tears.

"I know. I just wish he didn't have to die like that."

The room goes silent; killing a child was hard for all of us. But we had to do it if we wanted to survive.

Time ticks by ever so slowly, Carlos starts telling us stories of his doctor days before this Hellhole happened. Nick continues drinking, occasionally glancing over at me with a hurtful expression.

My head pounds even more, everything feels a bit dizzy.

_I wonder why Luke acted like that when I mentioned the weather. Maybe I should ask him? _

"Luke...?" I look up at him, while he looks down and returns my gaze; adding a smile.

"Clem...?" He mocks me, laughing a tiny bit followed by Carlos' grin.

"Ass." I roll my eyes, smirking a little.

"Sorry, what's up?"

"Why were you so worried when I mentioned the weather?"

His arm tightens around my shoulders, and his eyes avoid my gaze. Carlos looks down as well.

"The worst can happen tonight. It could be a storm, could also be Lurkers too. Bad weather could fuck us over." He assures me, looking around the room.

"Oh, okay..."

_Seems to make perfect sense to me._

The wind howls even more outside. The sky is now completely dark and you can faintly but surely hear the groans of the Lurkers a mile away. The sound of a light rainfall taps against the windows and the structure of the cabin as well.

"Huh, maybe Luke was right." Alvin keeps his eyes on the part of the window that's not boarded up, Luke grins.

"When you work on the farm, it's natural to tell."

"Don't get too cocky now." Nick mutters to himself, taking another swig.

Luke tenses up against me, I can feel the anger burning inside of him; wanting to just stand up and knock him flat on his ass.

I place my hand on top of his for a few seconds, calming him down greatly while he relaxes a bit; looking down at me.

"Thanks." He whispers softly enough for only me to hear.

My heart pounds furiously, unable to open my mouth to speak.

_You're welcome…_

Carlos stands up, walking to the garbage bin and checking on the food. He pulls out the trout and rabbit with a long fire poker, setting them down on the counter and unravelling the tin foil.

"Come and get some food, Luke and I will darken the windows with the curtains." Carlos glances upwards at him and motions Luke to get up and help him, while Nick stands up and staggers a little bit towards the counter for food.

I smirk a little; for once Carlos is giving me a break. Usually it's me always securing the windows and doors.

"Sorry Clem, you gotta move." Luke hauls me upwards, placing me on the other end of the couch, smiling softly at me before he turns around to help Carlos.

_I feel really dizzy..._

I steady myself, Rebecca looks at me awkwardly. Alvin helps her up and together they walk to the counter as well, grabbing a plate of food and sitting down at the wooden table.

The sky slowly darkens even more, the wind howls against the structure keeping us safe. The rain begins to sprinkle over everything outside; increasing the amount of water every so often.

_I hope I'm not sick, that's the last thing I need._

I help myself to the rabbit I shot, and some trout that they caught, taking a seat down next to Rebecca. Who then glances up from eating, hesitating on saying something.

"It must be hard for you Clementine. I applaud you sometimes; you smile and hold your ground, whereas others look for the easy way out of this miserable life."

The rain starts to get heavier and heavier, pounding against every inch of the cabin and drenching everything outside.

"It's not that bad, it's hard sometimes, but I definitely wouldn't see a reason to kill myself." I lie a little, taking a bite out of the delicious meal.

_The thought of doing that swept through my mind a lot this past year._

She nods and smiles faintly.

"That's true. We are a lot alike." She starts to eat as well.

Minutes pass by as the silence engulfs all of us separately. Alvin finishes up and excuses himself from the table, placing his plate by the sink and then helping Luke and Carlos with the curtains. Leaving Rebecca and I alone with Nick at the table.

_Why is she so talkative to me all of a sudden? I shouldn't complain, she used to hate me a long time ago for being 'another mouth to feed.' But I'm just curious…_

"Luke seems to have taken a liking to you. It takes a lot to gain his trust. And that damn 'Lurker' saying he has; you seemed to have picked right up on it." She tries to make small talk. She must've known him and Nick the longest.

Luke's always called them Lurkers; I've meet people who called them many different things before, like Biters for example. I don't remember who used to say that; but it was a long time ago. I guess he's rubbing off onto me.

Quietly I begin to eat a little faster, to give me time to think about the words I'll need to say, without trying to sound harsh or rude.

"Yeah, I guess I did." I smile faintly looking down, focusing on my simple task of eating before I either pass out or puke.

Muffled movement can be heard upstairs in Jane's room; maybe she's ready to come downstairs now? I haven't seen her since she got back from scavenging food.

I stare at my bowl.

_There's so much that I need to be careful of, you can't even keep a close bond with anyone because anything can happen. Lee... He was the one who saved me in the tree house. I miss him so much, but I can't show signs of weakness._

Nick attempts to eat his food, I can smell the alcohol thickly on his breath, he's in no condition to even speak a word to us, and so I doubt he would be listening.

"He always talks about you, you know. And whenever he doesn't know where you are he freaks out and panics like a little girl who lost her toy." She smirks slyly, while I pour both of us a glass of water.

"I know."

She gives me a weird look, expecting at least a chuckle out of me.

"Are you sure you are alright Clementine? You seem very off." She takes a sip of her water.

My headache worsens.

_Should I tell her? Rebecca seems to be the only person that would be I don't want to put too much on her plate; she's pregnant, has a lot to deal with, mention the name Carver around her and she'll go into a frenzy, I really don't know if I should or not._

"Clementine...?" Her worried tone rises once again.

"I-I just miss Lee." Without thinking I open my mouth.

_Lee…_

I look down, losing my appetite.

Her expression softens. She must feel bad for pushing it.

"I didn't mean to bug you about it-"

"No, it's alright. There was so much I didn't tell him." I try to force a smile, Rebecca does the same.

"If it wasn't for Lee, I don't know how I would've survived this far... If he didn't find me in the tree house, I would've been done for." I hide back tears. I loved my parents very much, but Lee surpassed that by a lot. He took on the fatherly role and managed to teach me a lot of things, like surviving in this fucked up world.

Rebecca goes quiet; slowly she starts to eat her food again, glancing over her shoulder towards the open door to the living room.

"I've been through a lot too. Alvin's parents were with us when this started and his father got bit. Back then we didn't know what it was so his mother stayed with him in our bedroom. Eventually he turned and killed her. So we just barricaded the door and left them there. Not as bad as you had it, but I understand some of your pain. I really would have liked to meet Lee; he seemed very protective of you. It makes me wonder how he would react towards Luke." She smiles.

_That is true; Luke is usually clinging to me. Plus he's older... I really do wonder what Lee would think of him._

I smile too, picking up my spoon again and eating a little bit, gaining some of my appetite back.

"He'd probably kick his ass; Lee hurt many people who tried to hurt us. Who knows how he would act to Luke."

She grins, eating her food. Thinking about what I've said.

"We're just really close friends me and him, I don't think he'd like me more than that." I continue eating.

Rebecca nearly chokes on her food.

"You'd be surprised."

I stare at her blankly.

_What's that supposed to mean?_

"Huh?" I question her greatly.

"Never mind, you're probably right." She smirks a little, maybe she's onto something.

I'm really confused; I best leave it alone until I have the strength to even think about all these outcomes and possibilities. For all I know; it could be just another one of her jokes.

We continue eating our food in a peace, talking about the past and how good things were. Not too long after, we hear several footsteps come trailing through the living room into the dining room. Luke, Kenny, and Carlos all come in, congregating around the meat and the bowls.

_Luke seems nervous..._

My heart lurches forward, aching to know what's on his mind.

"No words? Or a hearty hello even?" Rebecca sarcastically remarks; hinting in Luke's direction.

Luke turns towards her, his eyes keep glancing over at me.

"There's a number of them outside." He bluntly replies.

_What...? It was just clear not too long ago._

Alvin enters the room, and looks around nervously, Nick lifts his drunken head and does the same as well, maybe he did hear the conversation…

"Shit man, what are we gonna do?" Nicks near perfect drunken words quiver through his lips, his deep blue eyes light up in fear and jealously.

The rain pounds harder and harder against the cabin. Luckily we're boarded up nice and tight, I hope.

Carlos stands by the counter, picking up pieces of meat with a fork and eating it right there instead of joining us at the table.

"Well, upstairs is nice and secure even if they broke through. But the best we can do is set night shifts on who watches their movements and hope for the best that they will be mostly gone in the morning." Carlos grimly replies. He must be getting sick and tired of living in fear a lot.

Luke walks over to the table with a bowl of food, while Kenny just quietly looks around the room at all of us.

_I wonder if he's okay... It bugs me seeing him go through this._

Luke catches my eyes lingering on him, and smiles.

"No need for night shifts; I'll go all night-" Luke began.

We all just stare at him.

Luke never sleeps; he just wanders around a lot. It worries all of us, considering he's been like this since Carver kidnapped us literally moments after he ran into the forest to cool down from his and Kenny's argument at the Lodge.

"Uh, you're sleeping-" Rebecca began.

_Here we go again. Luke is stubborn at times; especially when it comes to sleeping._

"I'm fine takin' the full shift." He stubbornly protests.

She looks at him, questioning his decision on staying up all night.

"You need to sleep, you haven't slept in days!"

He goes silent, before looking back up at her.

"I know. I'm just makin' sure that everyone's safe-"

She rolls her eyes.

"Yeah, 'everyone' is Clementine. We know that already."

He glares at her.

"I care about the group too-"

"You will get some rest tonight whether you like it or not. You have to. Please, let us handle this." Alvin cuts both of them off and sternly protests.

Rebecca sighs deeply, looking up at her husband then back at Luke.

"Alvin's right." Rebecca agrees, wincing in pain a little.

"Yeah..." I look up at him with sad eyes, knowing that I'm probably the only person that can convince him otherwise.

Luke huffs; eating a bit of food, while Nick's almost done eating.

"Fine, I'll get some sleep." He gives up. There's no point in arguing on what to do, especially with Rebecca.

Kenny eventually grabs a bowl as well, and sits down on the other side of me, while Luke is on the opposite side.

My heart hurts. I feel pain for Kenny; I've seen him lose everything he loved, Katjaa, Duck, Sarita. I can't believe he's made it this far. And then there's Luke. He never sleeps, at all. It bugs me greatly; he's starting to lose his mind I bet.

Kenny's eyes wander over towards me, noticing that I am staring at him.

"Hey darlin'. How ya holdin' up?" Kenny smiles that same smile he used to. His shaggy greyish beard replaces his mustache. I liked his mustache. While his eye socket is covered up with a scrap of leather; due to Carver beating his face in. A reminder that he took the blame for me, because Carver would have done something worse if it were me caught with that damn thing.

"Fine, I guess. I'm just a bit shaken is all, how about you?" I hold his gaze.

He tenses up, trying to relax to show no reason to worry.

"Tired, to be honest I just can't believe that out of our old group, only the two of us survived." He looks down, eating his food.

_That's true, I remember everyone's deaths. It's sad because I was with Christa and Omid before I fell down in the river current a few years ago._

"Yeah... I miss Lee..." I sadly do the same.

I'd do anything to see him again. I just want to tell him about the group of people I met, and how happy I am.

Kenny grins.

"Lee. He was a character. He couldn't sleep unless he knew you were okay and healthy. That boy cared greatly about you. Hard to believe he was murderer huh?"

The room goes silent. Luke drops his spoon against the wooden table.

_He was a murderer...? After all this time he never told me._

"You said he was Macon boy, right?" Rebecca questions Kenny, hinting that she's been down there before.

"He was a murderer?" Luke exclaims, clearly getting a bit defensive.

"Yeah, yeah he was." Kenny ignores Luke's outburst, focusing on Rebecca.

"Lee Everett?" She glances over at me.

"Y-yes… I... I didn't know..." I look down.

_Lee always told me everything. Unless he thought I'd think differently of him if he told me..._

"Shit, my parents used to go to their drugstore regularly."

"We stayed there for a little, when we were leaving Macon..."

She smiles.

Kenny looks guilty.

"Sorry, I thought you all knew. He caught his wife cheating on him and he murdered the man in front of her. Said he didn't do it but I know him. He murdered those Walkers viciously and knew exactly where to strike the second this mess even started." He continues eating his food while everyone seems a bit surprised.

"Very well. It is getting late, you should finish up before coming, the rest of us will start heading to bed. We have a lot to do in the morning. I'll take the first night shift, followed by Alvin then Kenny. Nick is too drunk to do anything, and Luke hasn't slept in weeks." Carlos sits up, and starts to head up the stairs.

_I'm glad I don't have to do night shifts yet, I really like sleeping._

"Sounds good to me." Kenny smiles, eating the food that he has left in his bowl.

Luke puts his empty bowl on the counter, and then turns towards me; grinning slyly.

_Great. What does he want?_

"Alright kid, you'll have to teach me how to sleep." He jokes, considering he hasn't slept in weeks. We share the same room, he sleeps on the floor and I get the bed, but lately he seems to be pacing around a lot, or lying on the bed beside me looking up at the ceiling. I think he's getting paranoid.

"It's not that hard." I began, while Rebecca gives me a look that tells me to stay with him.

_I guess I can. It really isn't that hard though._

I smile, while Nick glares at Luke a little. His bottle's empty so he's done for tonight.

_I wonder what Nick's problem is. He's been doing that a lot, glaring at Luke when he's near, always being rude. What's on his mind?_

"Uhh Clem, can I talk to you for a second?" I guess Nick didn't drink enough to affect his speech. He suddenly gets up from the wooden chair, stumbling a little and heading into the living room, motioning me to follow him. Luke's eyes lock onto him like daggers.

_I guess I'll find out…_

"Sure...?" I follow his actions, walking calmly towards the living room door while Nick shuts it behind us.

My heart pounds.

_What's he going to do? Did I make him mad?_

He looks at me like he's about to kill me, and then his expression changes.

"I know, I'm not the type of person to do this, but I can't help myself."

_What...?_

Without a warning, He wraps his arms around me tightly. The smell of the forest and dried blood is glazed across his blue and white shirt. Along with the alcohol on his breath.

I feel his heart begin to lightly pound against me. Picking up its pace.

"W-what's this all about...?" I question him while he lets go and takes a step back.

He looks down, trying to avoid my gaze. As if he's embarrassed.

"It's just, before we all met you we really had no idea what to do with our lives." He began. Looking up at me and smiling.

"And then, that first day we all met you, it wasn't really pleasant for you I would imagine. But that day, in all the 20 years I've known Luke I have never seen him defend someone he just met in that type of situation, and feel so bad that you almost died. Yeah he can be a dick to me sometimes, but look at me; I deserve it for what I do." He finishes his sentence, with a smile. This is something I've never seen Nick do; even sober.

My heart leaps happily, did I really fix this group? I'm glad I decided to stay.

He looks down again, moving a little bit closer towards me.

"And, you made me realize that, no matter what situation we get thrown into, to always keep my cool. Because of you, I became a better person. We all became better people." He smiles, hugging me tightly once more. Except this time, I can feel his heart explodes with happiness.

_Nick... I didn't know. I didn't know I did all of that…_

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" My voice barely manages a whisper, shocked that he's not slurring his words or vomiting in the corner over there.

He hugs me even tighter.

"I was scared to." He whispers faintly.

_It wouldn't surprise me, I remember Pete telling me the story when he took Nick hunting for the first time…_

"Just one more thing, Nick." I began, pulling away from his embrace.

He smiles.

"Yeah?"

"Do you ever get drunk?"

He laughs a tiny bit, pulling me closer again.

"Nope. I'd be dead before I get drunk." He smirks.

"Our little secret; okay?"

"Okay."

He holds me tighter.

_He's not letting me go easily. Is it because he's scared still?_

Just as he's hugging me, the door opens and Luke stares at the two of us, a look of sadness sweeps his eyes, whereas the rest of them smirk a little.

"What the _Hell _are you doin' to Clementine!?" Luke's defensive side comes out, trying not to kill him.

"Here we go..." I mutter quietly, Carlos smirks, hearing what I said.

"I was just- thanking her." He exclaims, immediately letting go of me, glancing at Luke's angry eyes.

My heart hurts a little; I hate the way that Luke treats him lately. Even after the fact that Nick was telling me how much Luke cared about me.

"You? Thanking someone? Did you hit your head?" Rebecca smirks, obviously joking around. She moves past Luke, Nick and I and towards the stairs with Alvin right behind her, shaking her head and laughing while they both walk up the steps.

"Try not to kill each other while I sleep, okay?" She calls.

Luke crosses his arms, glaring. Clearly he's not in the mood for joking.

Nick looks embarrassed; I bet he never even hugged anyone in his life before.

"I hugged her, so what?" He hides his embarrassment, while Luke motions me to head up the stairs, assuring me that he will be up in a little bit.

Kenny smiles.

"Give me a second, darlin'. I'll sort this out for ya"

_And that's my queue to leave._

"O-okay... I'll see you guys soon."

"What? 'Sort out?' Do we look like fuckin' kids to you?" I hear Luke growl in the distance.

"You sure are actin' like one..." Kenny mutters.

I smile.

_Finally, someone tells him how childish he is... It's cute sometimes, but it gets out of hand when he fights._

I stumble up the stairs a little, my eyes are really heavy. And I feel my body burning up badly.

_I really don't feel good… You can hear their fighting from here; Kenny seems to be knocking some sense into them I'd imagine._

I stop in the hallway, listening to the muffled voices from the three of them downstairs, some words I can make out. They sound slightly angry.

"Co...e o... ..Man. Th...'s n...t co...l. You k...ow h... I fe...l a...ut h...r"

"I... so...ry! I fe...l th... sa...e w...y too, o...ay?"

Then I hear Kenny's voice, I can't make it out at all but I know he's slightly annoyed.

_They fight over me like children and a toy, just what is it that makes them act like this? We're all friends, we're family now…_

I open the door to the room on the left, the room where Luke and I always sleep in. Well, I sleep in. Luke just lays there or paces around all night. There's a huge bed and a couple pillows and blankets on the floor, a window that can see over the forest, which is kind of a bad thing, really. The rain hits harder and harder, thunder can be heard in the distance; followed by a brilliant streak of lightning nearby.

_Huh, I guess Luke was right; it's a huge storm._

I sit on the edge of the bed, and kick my shoes off.

_I don't know how we can get past another herd of Lurkers. Especially with what happened the first and second time._

The horrible images of Ben and the first herd appear. Losing him, and then almost losing Kenny in the process of saving him. Then, Sarah's desperate cries and pleas flash through my mind right after. Her and Sarita got separated while we were escaping Carver's camp, and neither of them had a weapon. It was too late, Luke and I sliced our way through to them but they were already dead…

_Sarah; I'm so sorry... I tried, I really did…_

My head pounds furiously, the headache doesn't stop and probably won't plan to for a long time. I think I have the flu.

A couple minutes later I can hear them walking up the stairs, one of the doors open and then close, and then not to long after that happened the door to this room opens and there stands Luke and Nick, smiling awkwardly.

_What do they want...?_

"Well, since we chose the biggest room and there's some space on the floor, I was wonderin' if Nick could...-" Luke trails off, looking down from my eyes.

_Nick usually sleeps downstairs, and since Carlos ordered us to stay up here in the meantime... I guess it wouldn't hurt._

I stare at them blankly. Nicks face shows disappointment.

"Sure? One of you can sleep on the floor and I wouldn't mind sharing the bed." I suddenly smile at him, whereas he returns the smile, leaving Nick there all pale and tense looking.

_Why is Luke offering him a place up here? Kenny must've done something._

Luke's brown eyes light up intensely.

"Not a problem, Nick can sleep on the floor-"

"Maybe I wanted the bed."

"Well, that's just too damn bad." Luke smirks.

"I always slept on the floor." He adds, walking towards me and closing the window's shutters.

Nick snorts, trying to forget about Luke's sudden outbreak earlier.

"Fine. Gonna tuck me in, Lukie?" Nick jokes, taking off his shoes and sitting down on top of the pile of blankets.

_Lukie...?_

I stare blankly at the both of them.

"You're a big boy now, Nick." Luke rolls his eyes while Nick laughs a little.

_Weren't they just in a fight..? Maybe they didn't lose their friendship after all._

I smile, happy that they are still the same friends they were before I met them.

The two talk about how they were as kids for a few more minutes, remembering the moments they both had together.

"I overreacted." Luke breaks the silence.

Nick looks down,

"I overreacted more than you did." He smirks.

"I was 'drunk', and I'm sorry."

"it's okay man, I'm used to it by now. I shouldn't have lashed out. Also, you never get drunk you fuckin' liar." Luke assures him with a smile. He takes off his shoes and his machete strapped to his back, and then pulls the blankets back.

"I'm glad you two aren't fighting..." I smile softly; they both return the same smile.

"Yeah, it happens sometimes."

Luke crawls into the bed, keeping Nick in his sight, making sure he doesn't get sick I suppose.

_This feeling... I feel, strange and happy. I used to imagine sleeping beside Luke would be like sleeping beside Lee, but I feel much safer._

My heart pounds again, probably smiling if a heart could smile.

"Yeah..." Nick agrees, and stands up from his comfy looking mountain and shuts the door behind him and then spreads the pillows out and wraps himself up with the blankets.

_I never had Luke sleep in the same bed as me... I mean when he used to sleep he'd sleep very close to me. Is that the same?_

"What's wrong kiddo? Are you shocked that I'm goin' to try sleepin' for once?" He chuckles a little, patting the empty space that I purposely left between us.

"I won't bite, I promise."

My heart picks up the pace.

I smile at him. How did I know he was going to say something like that? He always jokes so much about us.

"Yeah, you better not. I kick in my sleep."

"I'm okay with that." He smirks, laying down on his back under the covers and staring at the ceiling for a long time.

The wind howls against the old window; rattling the frame while the pouring rain bashes against the glass. Thunder roars across the forest and shakes the house lightly. The lightning strikes brightly enough to light up the whole room. As pretty as it is; I really hope it dies down soon.

I stand up and blow out the candle that Rebecca must've put in here moments ago before I got upstairs, lifting up the covers and slowly sliding in between them.

Luke's body burns warmly, emitting a soothing, gentle warmth while he turns to face me.

_The air is really cold up here. And he's so warm. I'm glad he chose to sleep here. He's like my personal heater._

He just stares at me awkwardly for a few minutes. My heart beats a little, wondering what he wants.

"You know, Clem-" He began.

"I'm lying right here you know that, right?" Nick speaks up. I'm not sure if he was sarcastic or not.

Luke laughs a tiny bit.

"Yeah moron I know you are. But I'm still sayin' it."

Nick forces out a tiny smile, but his eyes show pain. Obviously not from Luke's words, considering that's how they act.

"But Clem, I know I said this before, and I'll say it again." He began, lying on his side facing me.

_What was it that he said? He's said a lot to me over the couple years. I can tell he's trying to be like Lee, which I'm grateful for, but sometimes it hurts knowing that he isn't around anymore._

My heart beats rapidly, what does he want?

He looks down, taking a deep breath. Then looks back up and holds my gaze.

"I will protect you. I'll do what Lee did, and I'll make sure I'm still around so I can be here for you." He smiles, wrapping his arms around my body and pulling me into him.

My heart throbs against my ribs, I smile faintly.

_He's so warm. I knew he wanted to be like Lee. I'm so glad that I met these people…_

"Barf." Nick replies sarcastically, rolling over on his side, trying to refrain from saying anything else.

"Oh shut up, no one asked you." Luke replies sarcastically.

"Yeah, whatever. I'm going to bed now, anything to escape this." Nick closes his eyes and begins to snore softly after a few minutes.

_Luke..._

His body is even warmer. My head's pressed against his chest while his arms are tightly around me. I can feel his heart pound insanely fast.

"Maybe tonight I'll get some sleep." He whispers quietly to me, letting his head slump forward with his chin pressed against my forehead.

"Maybe, I hope so." I smile warmly, moving my arms and wrapping them around his waist.

I feel him smile.

The thunder kicks in, cracking across the land followed by the flash of lightning that brightens the whole room for a split second, even with the curtains across the window.

"I will protect you Clem. From now on, no more runnin' away like I used to... I wasn't thinkin' before, I was only thinkin' of a way to save you when Carver kidnapped you all. If he hurt you..." I feel a small trickle of water hit my forehead, followed by one of his hands moving from my back, to the back of my head. He takes off my favorite purple and white hat and places it on the floor. Moving his hand to cup the back of my head gently, he presses me even closer against his heated body.

"Luke, that was two years ago. He didn't hurt me, I shot him, remember?" I assure him, he hugs me even tighter.

Carver kidnapped us at the Lodge and brought us back to his camp, roughly a thousand miles from where we were. He was beginning to be more sadistic. Luke tracked us down, it took him a few days but he did, broke in and camped out in a small comic book store. He got hungry and risked the chance of getting caught while stealing food; and he did. Carver beat the shit out of him when I wasn't there and then pulled all of them together. Luckily I was snooping around in his office at the time, I pulled out my gun and while I hopped down the store's ginormous shelves, and shot him in his shoulder.

"Lee did a good job." He smirks, remembering that mid-air shot that caught everyone, even him off guard.

"Yeah…"

_Lee did do a good job. He taught me how to survive on my own, and for that I owe him my life..._

"From now on if I ever get separated from the group again, I'm keepin' you in sight. I don't know what I'd do if I were to lose you, kid..." He vows with his voice quivering, I feel his heart pounding faster and faster against my body.

_Luke... How come you never mentioned this before? I'm curious._

The lightning strikes again outside; brightening the room for a quick second before fading into darkness once again.

Nick snores, tossing around on the pile of blankets and pillows. The rain and the thunder doesn't slow down either.

"Luke...?" I open my eyes a little and meet his gaze.

"Yeah?" He whispers back, smiling a soft smile.

"How come you never told me this before?"

He goes silent, still holding me close to him.

"I was afraid on what your reaction would be back then. Knowin' that I only cared about what happened to you and Nick, I do care for the group, but if you got hurt or turned... I would probably murder everyone, who was dead or alive. I'd be so angry..." I feel the wet tears hit my forehead again, a little bit more than the last time.

_I've never seen him cry before... I had no idea that this is what he felt. Was this what Rebecca was saying to me about earlier?_

"Luke... It's okay, I'm right here. You won't lose me, Lee taught me to be better than that." I comfort him, moving my hand and wiping away his tears.

He calms down after a few seconds, smiling in the end.

"I'm sorry, it's just the thought of losin' you kills me. I know I was reckless before, but I promise from now on I will always be by your side."

He takes my hand and holds it, kissing my forehead and letting go. With a cheerful smile on his face, he closes his eyes and continues to keep smiling.

My heart explodes with happiness; I smile a little too, looking down and moving my arm back around his waist.

"Goodnight, Luke. Sleep tight, okay?" My eyes close, heavy from the sickness that washes over me.

"I will. You too. I'll protect you..." His tired voice rings slightly through my ears, followed by the sound of heavy breathing.

_He's asleep for once. It's been a couple weeks since he slept. I'm really happy for him. Also with the things that he said, I'm a bit shocked… I didn't know that's how he felt about me._

The thunder and rain continue to march forward, the lightning intensifies as well. Nick's snores are drowned out by the thunder. I hope this storm passes over; this is the last thing we'll need...

I try silence my endless thoughts, and only focus on two things; Luke's promise,

And his warmth.


	2. Chapter 2 Sweet, Sweet, Relief

In the dead of the night, a loud thundering roar is heard from outside. It rattles the entire house, shaking the interior inside, causing me to open my eyes hastily. Only to be greeted by the pure darkness and the heavy breathing of Luke who's beside me, who's somehow still sleeping through that horrible violent tremor equivalent to an earthquake. My head still pulsates with a vengeance, causing me to tear up a little, forcing me to stay awake.

_My head hurts, I can't stop this on my own, I need to ask Carlos if there's any pills left from when Rebecca had the flu months ago._

That thought slipped my mind last night while we were eating. Hopefully I can catch whatever I have in time before I get really sick and slow our group down, or else we'll be here longer than we planned.

Once again the destructive thundering noise rumbles overtop of the cabin, Luke stirs around beside me; still not waking up. The lightning strikes a tree nearby outside causing it to fall over and sizzle in the down pouring rain.

_That's not good._

My heart pounds again, Carlos was onto something when he said 'the calm before the storm.' It's like a hurricane out there.

It's still dark outside, meaning I most likely got a couple hours of sleep before the pain came back and that violent thunder. The wind is still as strong as it was when we all went to bed too. The room is silent, except for a steady deep breathing and the lump of blankets moving right beside me.

_'l will protect you, Clem...'_

That sentence alone echoes through my mind constantly. Clinging onto each word he said, and how he pronounced it.

I feel a small, tiny smile spread across my face.

_He said a lot to me last night, Nick too. I'm starting to think this is more than what it seems…_

The rain hits the cabin with enough force to chip away the wood, there's a leak in here somewhere because I can hear the water dripping in a corner in this room.

Nick sometimes gives me a hard time. He tries not to, that's easy to tell. But it still happens. Once in a blue moon he'll freak out and find a problem somewhere in the group, but Luke told me that's just who he is and he can't help it so I shouldn't worry too much.

My head suddenly splits in pain again, even when there's no light it's still affected by something, causing my temples to pulsate even harder and my sinuses to swell up again.

_I knew it... It's the flu. I'm the luckiest girl in the world. Just make it stop!_

I lay there sprawled out in total silence and darkness, eventually my eyes grow used to the dark and I can see vaguely around the silent room.

The table that's against the window and has a bunch of stuffed animals piled on top of it, and a busted lamp that's on the floor. The ceiling is a little bit slanted on my side of the wall where the bed is so I know the leak isn't anywhere along this wall.

The water drips again, it sounds like it's in the corner beside the doorway that leads into the hallway but I can't be too sure.

Luke shifts his weight around on the bed and mumbles a few words to himself before the steady, continuous deep breathing begins again.

_I hope Carlos is up. He knows where everything is._

I peer over Luke's heaving body to see if Nick's still here on the floor, the pile of blankets on the wooden, cold floor seem to have been moved around, the pillows are also spread across the area. Obviously Nick isn't here anymore.

I sigh.

_I don't see him where he slept; maybe he got up a while ago and is drinking again…_

Sometimes, on rare occasions when Nick can't sleep, we usually find him 'drunk' the next morning. Sometimes Luke joins him, which bothers me a little to be honest… But at least he's more mature about it than Nick is.

Confused and curious, I crawl gently over Luke's body to get to the other side of the bed, scurrying across him and stepping down onto the wooden, cold floor.

_I feel dizzy, extremely dizzy..._

Suddenly, my legs try to give out from beneath me. I stumble around a bit to try to regain balance before steadying myself against the wall. The water drips once more and I can feel a small puddle of water by my feet. I guess I found out where the leak is.

_That was close; if I fall Luke will definitely come running like he always does._

My brain continuously sends bone shattering pains throughout my head. The pressure builds up a little behind my eyes, making me want to claw them out if my sockets.

_If I can just make it downstairs to the kitchen; or the bathroom even._

Slowly, I begin to walk quietly out of the room, holding onto the walls around me for balance. I look over my shoulder to make sure Luke is still sleeping, which he is.

I smile to myself, gazing at him for a couple more seconds.

_I wonder what time it is, I know it's still roughly the same time we all went to bed at..._

I poke my head out, looking into the hallway seeing all of the doors are shut; I guess no one else is up yet; which is odd considering Carlos said there would be always one person up every hour or so.

I deeply sigh, trying not to wake anyone up, even though someone should be up.

_Great, how am I going to get the pills now if Carlos is still sleeping?_

My head continues to pulsate, every muscle in my body is screaming at me to go back to the bed, cuddle Luke and sleep for a few days. I don't think Carlos would want to be here in the cabin for too long anyways, so I couldn't, no matter how tempting that sounds right now…

We've only stayed in the cabin for a couple months actually, after we dealt with Caver and escaped we backtracked here to come up with a new plan. Carlos says heading north is our only option and to avoid majorly populated cities. The only question is; how far north are we going to travel?

The steps creak extremely loud as I hold onto the railing for dear life and slowly descend into the eerie, darkened room. The lightning flashes outside, only enough to illuminate some of the room between the cracked boards on the windows.

_How come no one's on watch..?_

I half expected whoever's supposed to be on watch to turn around the corner and scare me, which luckily didn't happen, or else I would have punched them in an act of self-defense; really hard too.

The wind hurls itself against the cabin, the eerie; hallow sound the wind makes rasps against the windows, while the rain and thunder emphasize it even more.

My bare feet tingle a little on the freezing cold floor. I look around the room, flailing my arms and lightly touching things to get a good feel of my surroundings considering the blinding flash from the lightning disorientates my vision a little.

_Damn that window's boarded up good. I guess I shouldn't complain; we'd all be dead if it wasn't._

Silence lingers in the darkness of the living room. I'm still having a hard time deciding if that's a good thing or not.

_There's no snarling… That's a good sign, I hope._

I relax a little, my head still kills me but I need to find those pills or it might get worse.

Suddenly, a loud crash is heard from the kitchen, as if someone knocked a spoon or a fork off the edge of the table and it landed on the floor. Whatever it is, it clearly got my attention now.

_I should've never left the room… Why did I leave the room?_

My heart races inside my chest, I can feel my heart pulsing throughout my body, and the adrenaline kicking in.

_I need those pills..._

I creep closer and closer to the wooden door that's closed shut leading towards the kitchen. There's a faded orange light emitting from under it too. A nagging feeling keeps bugging me about entering the room, but I need to know if there are pills in there first.

_Maybe I can take who- or, what- ever is in there by surprise… Yeah, that's what I'll do._

I smirk a little, feeling around one of the bookshelves and finding a nice sharp letter opener, just my luck.

_Perfect._

I smirk.

My eyes focus back to the shut door. I'm amazed Carlos didn't wake up from that, he's a light sleeper.

_Okay Clem, all you have to do is just reach for the door slowly, open it up and go for the head…_

My fingers shake a little, usually I'm not nervous, but since its dark and I feel like utter shit, whoever it is might have the upper advantage.

My fingers lightly grasp the doorknob, my body screams at me not to open this door due to not knowing what's inside but I need to, in case the pills are in the kitchen.

_Okay… Now all I have left to do is-_

The doorknob suddenly jolts free from my loose grip, sending me jumping back a little and the door swings fully open.

_Shit...!_

My heart pounds heavily, I fumble the letter opener a little, holding it steadily I look upwards meeting the worried eyes of Nick, who's holding an old candle and a steak knife in the other hand.

_Oh thank god..._

"Nick, you scared me!" I sigh of relief, lowering my letter opener while he lowers his knife, moving a few steps back to let me through the door.

"Shit you scared me too, what the Hell are you doing up this late?" His blue eyes return to the normal shade they usually are, and he faintly smiles, moving towards me, but questioning my face.

_Why is he looking at me like that...?_

"I could ask you the same thing..." I cross my arms, trying to ignore the splitting pain that's been haunting me all day.

It's kind of suspicious as to why he's up so late... Especially, since he fell asleep before the both of us.

I notice another bottle of alcohol half empty on the kitchen table, and some crumpled pieces of paper lying around. What's he up to? I wonder.

Now that the adrenaline wore off, my legs feel very weak and shaky. This isn't good; maybe I should call it quits and go back to bed.

Just as I'm about to move to the chair my vision starts to slowly turn black, giving me enough time to realize what's happening.

_Shit... I'm not going to make it to the chair, am I?_

My hands automatically latch onto Nick's arm to stabilize me before I almost fall again. He looks at me oddly.

"I'm sorry, I-" I began, the room spins around a couple times confusing my brain greatly.

"No, problem, I guess…?" He hesitates, looking at me oddly before helping me towards the table and helping me sit down as well.

His eyes linger over me, and the hand with the knife slowly sets it aside on the table, while he places the candle down next to it, taking the letter opener from my fingers before I accidentally stab myself.

My eyes keep trying to refocus due to the candlelight, which creates even more of a headache for me.

_I can't keep looking around the room, I feel sick... Please don't puke..._

My head hits the table before Nick can even ask what the Hell's going on; he just stands there confused, before sitting down beside me.

Thunder roars overhead, rattling the bottle of alcohol on the table along with the plates and utensils inside the cupboards and drawers.

"Shit, Luke_ was_ right about the storm…" Nick mutters angrily, I guess he still hates him even after what Kenny said to them.

_Hopefully this stops the tunnel vision..._

My heart rate continues to pound furiously, I can feel myself just getting ready to vomit almost. My body burns up quite a bit too, my fever must've spiked…

"Clem...? Can I get you anything?" Nick notices that I'm not responding a whole lot like I usually do.

_Now's my chance…_

"Painkillers..." I hoarsely mutter, gripping my head while the pain retaliates again.

_I'll need to go to bed after this…_

He looks at me funnily, raising an eyebrow while taking another swig.

"Why the fuck do you need painkillers? I'd offer you a drink but you're too young."

Poking my head up a little I glare at him, there's no way I'll ever touch a bottle of that shit.

"My head hurts…"

I raise my head slowly to look him in the eye. His eyes widen, shocked a little at the fact that I'm still awake.

_What's the matter? It's not that bad is it...?_

"Okay, just relax I'll find some, then I'll take you to bed. Clem you're really pale..." He stands up immediately, opening one of the cupboards and taking out a bottle of pills and pouring me a glass of water, and starts heading back towards me.

_Thank god..._

He hands me them carefully. I bring the pills to my mouth, and take a huge swig of water.

My head still throbs, but the pills are to be expected to work within a few minutes; hopefully.

The candlelight reflects our shadows against the wall sitting down in the chairs; the glow also lets me see the growing concern surprisingly on Nick's face.

"So, what are you doing out here this late?" He starts over, keeping his voice quiet so we don't wake people up, or distract any Lurkers.

_I just said why…_

"I- I needed something for this headache." I look down at the candle flame, the pain's starting to lessen already, I can't believe it's working _that_ fast.

Nick smirks.

"Well, you've been taken care of, get some sleep."

"The pills need to work first, dumbass..." I smile a little; he looks at me, amused.

He sighs, holding back a small, faint grin.

"Yeah, got me there didn't you?"

The rain pounds against the visible glass, and damp wood outside. Thunder rumbles in the distance while the lightning flashes in, illuminating everything's shadows against the wall with ours.

My eyes glance to the papers on the opposite end of the table; Nick catches my gaze and tenses up a little.

"So, what's so important about those papers-"

"Nothing. Don't worry about it." He quickly jumps up, grabbing the crumpled pieces of paper and shoving them into his pocket.

_Okay then…_

"So, why are _you_ up so late?" I change the subject while he walks back to his seat, trying to return to my normal self. I can tell these pills are working because my head feels completely numb, and it feels nice.

He looks over towards the door, and then back at me. Either he's hinting at something, or he's edgy being awake and down here at this time.

_Did... Did someone go outside on their own?_

"Alvin got tired, he asked me to continue and so I did. And here I am."

"Okay, I see."

_Good, I thought he was going to say someone ran off._

I take a huge sip from the glass of water, setting the glass down on the table. The thunder shakes the house once more, causing the glass to rattle against the tabletop.

_It feels weird not having Luke beside me. I don't think I ever got to sit down with Nick alone, in a long time._

His eyes keep glancing at me; I can tell he's a bit worried.

"I can help you up the stairs if you can't walk, you know that right?"

"I can walk fine."

I stand up from the chair, the tingly black sensation creeps slowly across my vision once more, and before I know it, I fall to the floor, heaving up the fish and rabbit that we ate for dinner.

"Disgusting." Nick mutters, helping me up once more and setting me down on the chair while he wipes up my mouth with a cloth; his blue eyes lock onto mine, while he smiles softly.

My heart thumps softly, why is Nick doing all of this for me?

"To think that Luke did this for me when we got drunk together…"

"I thought you never got drunk?" I question him, as he begins to clean up the rest of it.

"I used to get drunk, I just kept drinking and eventually it went away." He tosses the cloth into the sink, turning back to face me.

_I threw up all over him almost, I should at least apologize._

"I'm sorry..."

He laughs a tiny bit.

"Don't worry. I'm taking you to bed and letting Carlos know you're sick-"

"Don't!"

_If he finds out, I'll be pitied and I don't want that, I want to help out._

He gazes at me oddly.

"Why..? He's a doctor, he can help. Besides, he's been acting real suspicious lately because he found some blood in the bathroom upstairs."

"I don't want to be a burden to the group- and what? How come I wasn't informed?"

He smirks softly, walking towards me.

My heart pounds a little.

"You're not a burden; you're just a kid, yeah. But you're tougher than most of us. Don't feel ashamed that you're sick, it happens okay? And, sometimes the grownups have grownup meetings…" He teases me with a smile.

"Ass, just please don't tell him." I roll my eyes at him while he laughs a little.

"Alright, fine." He sighs, clearly not happy with my decision; but he agrees.

I sigh of relief, I'm glad he won't tell. I should probably get Carlos to look at me, but not right now. Not when there's work to be done tomorrow.

The wind howls with a vengeance, the sound of more trees falling around us can be heard as well. It's going to be a mess tomorrow…

Instead of even giving me the option to walk, he scoops me up in his arms without a warning, and begins to walk towards the living room.

His arms hold me gently as he keeps glancing down at me pressing against his chest, trying not to crack a smile.

"What the-" I just go with it, I'm too tired to even care at this point, besides; I'd probably fall down the steps anyways if I tried.

My body burns, and my eyes grow heavy very quickly. I can tell my fever is high, and so can he.

_The pills must be working... I don't feel any pain right now, I'm happy that it's gone..._

"Luke would kill me if he caught me doing this." Nick mutters. Tightening his grip on me to make sure I don't fall as we head up the stairs slowly, avoiding the cracks to lessen the chance of anyone waking up.

_I feel calm laying here in his arms, not Luke or Lee calm, but calm enough to know I'll be okay. I think I'm starting to trust him fully now._

He glances down at me; a vague, hidden smile twitches along his lips.

My eyes keep closing, I'm glad he's doing this; I'd probably end up sleeping on the couch if he didn't. And we all know how Luke would take to that.

He opens the door slowly, walking blindly into the dark room and carefully leaning over Luke, setting me down back in my original spot when I first woke up.

"Now don't you move until the others are up, I'm going to wake up Kenny then I'm coming back, alright?" He quietly assures me, pulling the covers a bit from underneath Luke whose hogging most of them and placing them overtop of me.

I smile and nod, silently thanking him as he turns around and slowly leaves the room. Heading into Kenny's which is just across the hall from ours.

I smile, relaxing finally now that I don't feel any of the pain.

_Now I can finally sleep. Hopefully I stay asleep this time._

The rain pounds against the only window that isn't boarded up, the wind picks up even harder and you can hear the sound of some brittle trees snapping and collapsing around us.

Luke grumbles a little, shifting over to face me and slowly opens his eyes. Almost as if he was waiting for Nick to leave the room.

"Hey, what are you doin' up..?" He groggily replies, yawning and stretching his arms. Unaware that Nick isn't here.

_Really, I want to sleep._

I roll over, huddled against the wall ignoring him so I can at least get some rest.

_I'll just pretend I'm sleeping; maybe he'll leave me alone._

He smirks slyly.

"It's rude to ignore people, kiddo."

He moves closer to me, sliding his warm hands around my waist and pulling me towards him.

_W-what's he doing...?_

My heart thumps, wildly and willingly.

His lips curl into a smile; I guess he can feel it with his hands that are wrapped around my waist.

"C'mon Clem, why are you up? You woke me up several minutes ago, so I'm not lettin' go until you tell me."

I sigh a little, while he laughs a tiny bit, knowing that he's won.

_I guess I'll tell him then..._

"My headache got worse. So I left, to get those painkillers Carlos has..."

Hesitating a little he lets go of me, smiling a tiny bit while rolling over on his back.

"Well, I'm glad you're not in pain anymore. If there's anythin' you need though, you let me know. Okay?"

"Okay..."

_He always has to do everything for me; I'm not a little kid anymore; why can't he see that?_

He smiles, drifting off to sleep slowly.

"See you tomorrow…" He manages to speak. And with that, he rolls over falls asleep instantly.

_He probably wanted to know so badly because he was worried, he noticed I was looking sick before I even could figure it out…_

I lay there half-awake for a while, Luke finally passes out into a deep sleep and the deep breathing escapes from his nose. Oddly enough I hear footsteps coming back up the stairs, opening Kenny's door in the hallway, and then suddenly to our door.

_Nick...? Why'd he take so long? Plus he went to Kenny's room, not downstairs. Unless, I didn't hear him move downstairs..._

I peer over Luke once again looking at Nick who takes off his shoes again, and shuts the door behind him quietly.

"Clem...? I see you." Quietly he makes his way over to the foot of the bed, sitting down on my side while Luke moves around in his sleep.

"What took you so long...?"

"Oh, you care about me huh?" He smirks, getting just a little bit full of himself.

"Well, yeah you're my friend..."

He smiles a tiny bit, looking over at Luke with a bit of jealously in his eyes.

"Kenny wanted me to keep watch for a few minutes longer until he was awake enough to start, nothing too major." He stands right up again, and lies back down on his makeshift bed on the floor beside our bed.

_Okay... We can all sleep again finally..._

"Goodnight, Clem." He adds, wrapping himself up in the blankets, I hope I fall asleep before he starts snoring...

"You to." I barely manage to get out.

I yawn a little, stretching my body and curling up facing the wall, trying to pull some of the blankets from underneath Luke again.

_Maybe Nick changed… He'd never be concerned for me as much as he was just right now. After all; we all managed to survive this long enough together so maybe, just maybe, he finally is starting to trust me more than he did before._

The pills kick in; making my brain drowsy even just thinking about anything really, tires me out completely. My eyes slowly close and eventually, I fall asleep without any pain in my head or hear the thoughts clawing at my brain like they usually do before.


	3. Chapter 3 Fooling Around

"Hey kid, get up. We gotta move; we're burnin' daylight over here." Luke's cheerful yet irritated voice breaks the sleeping spell I was under. Forcing me to wake up and face the reality of what the world's become.

I yawn, stretching my sore arms up in the air before letting them fall limp and resting on top of the blankets. There's no sound of rain either, the storm must've passed by.

The thick curtains drape over the window so there's not that much light in here, I don't remember pulling them over so Nick or Luke probably did it.

_Morning already...? I don't even remember falling asleep._

My head throbs like the day before; the painkillers must've worn off while I was sleeping, I guess I'll have to get more downstairs then.

"Anytime now, kid."

My body screams violently at me, telling me that I should stay in bed and not move until I feel better. But I know that won't happen.

I can almost hear him smirking as he says that, opening my eyes vaguely I stare directly at him with a devilish smile.

"You're insane if you think I'm getting up-" I cough near the end, at first it was just a simple 'flu' cough, but then it took a dark turn the second I started coughing up blood…

_W-what…? I'm not turning into one of… them, am I…?_

Panic settles in quickly for me, I haven't been this sick before in my life and now all of a sudden I'm coughing up blood? This is not good…

Luke's eyes go from excited to worry instantly, kneeling over the bed and wiping away the blood with a small cloth that's on the night table beside him.

"You okay, kid?"

I can taste the blood dripping down the back of my throat, my muscles ache all over as well, I can't be turning… Can I?

I finally stop, my lungs gasp for breath desperately, before I look up at him, flashing him a quick smile despite all of my panicking and suffering.

"Still not getting up."

I smirk, wrapping myself up in the warm blankets, watching him from the corner of my eye, still a little freaked out about what just happened.

He lets out a deep sigh, standing there with a small smile, locking onto my eyes with his crisp, dark brown ones.

"You're some lucky that wasn't a whole lot of blood. Your throat's probably sore. You're not turnin'… Probably."

"I feel _so _much better…" I mutter to myself, he always does that; saying something that's meaningful to me and then ruining the moment.

_He better just leave, I'll wake up on my own... I hope_.

He just stands there, watching me as I try to get comfortable again. He clearly never had a younger sibling so he doesn't know any tricks to wake me up; I think.

My body aches all over, even moving my arm takes up most of my energy. I don't want to leave this bed in fear that I'll topple over and pass out.

"Not moving." I mumble quietly, mainly because my throat is killing me.

I probably should have let Nick tell Carlos that I'm sick; he did say Carlos was beginning to get suspicious lately ever since there was blood found in the bathroom and a small tiny trail in the hallway. And since I just coughed up blood, I'm in the red; literally.

"Oh?" He hides his happiness, standing there with a small smile. As if he's planning something devious.

His smile pierces my heart every time, and being contagious as it is, I suddenly feel one creep across my lips underneath the blanket.

_Shit. I need to stop doing that..._

My head still pounds, the pain is beginning to be unbearable again, which means eventually I'll have to crawl out of bed and hunt for more painkillers. He crosses his arms against his dull orange sweater. His eyes lock onto mine, trying to be all stern and serious.

"I was supposed to get you up an hour ago. You're welcome. Now help me out and get up will you?"

I contain my laughter, while my headache blazes through my brain like a fiery inferno of pain and suffering.

_Even when he's trying to be serious I just can't see it, I always see him joking around or angry. Never have I seen him try to be serious before..._

I roll over facing the wall, groaning in pain and pulling the blankets over my head, clearly I don't want to move. Why can't he just leave already?

_I just want to sleep... Make this pain stop..._

"Five more minutes..." I protest, hoping that he'd be willing to compromise a little.

He laughs, pretending like he's thinking about it.

I smirk.

_I got him right where I want him-_

"Nope; sorry kiddo."

_Shit._

And with that, I hear footsteps walking towards the window beside me, the sound of the curtains sliding apart and the blinding light from the sun flutters through; piercing right though my thick blankets.

_Oh you little... Two can play this game._

The room grows silent, nothing but the slight occasional faint snarl from deep inside the forest, followed by the chirping of some birds nearby.

I've been through worse trying to be forced to get up for school before. All I can say is; good luck.

"Still not movin'?" He tsks, walking around the bed and I can feel his hands grip the corner of the blankets near my feet.

My eyes widen a little, realizing what he's going to do.

"You wouldn't..." I growl, gripping the blanket tightly around me, as if that's going to do anything.

The cold air lightly stings my face, and the thick blanket keeps the rest of me warm.

"Wanna bet?" He grins, ripping the blankets right off of me and tossing them to the ground. Clearly my weak grasp didn't do much in this situation.

He then stands there again, crossing his arms and watching me with a smug look on his face, and with a loving warmth emitting from his eyes.

"I was getting a little warm anyways." I lie, feeling the cold air attack the rest of my body.

_I miss my blankets..._

I curl up against the wall again, Luke sighs a little, running out of ideas to get me out of bed knowing that today's going to be a long day as it is.

My muscles scream at me not to move, considering the slightest movement takes up most of my energy, yeah, I probably should've let Nick tell Carlos…

I can tell Luke's losing some of his patience, like how he does with Nick. But for me, he's clearly holding back on some of his anger.

"Kid, don't make me get that bucket of water downstairs." He smirks a little, sitting down on the foot of the bed, unable to keep his eyes off of me.

_Oh really?_

"And waste the drinking water? Carlos will murder you in your sleep." My lips curl into a sneer, calling out his bluff.

"Damn, you're good." He admits, looking down at the floor pondering more ideas while I squeeze my body into a tighter position trying to conserve the rest of my body heat.

_Why did he have to do that? That was just mean…_

The light burns through my eyelids making it even more impossible to try to sleep, triggering my headache to kick in since its light sensitive.

Luke doesn't speak for an awful long time; occasionally I'll glance up at him to make sure he's still here. And most of the time, I'll catch his eye looking away from me at the last second.

_Luke hasn't said anything so far, I hope he finally gave up._

Just after thinking that, I feel his body shift around on the bed; and I feel his warm hands wrap around my waist and grip the side I'm lying on.

The skin where his fingers touch tingle excitedly, forcing my heart to pound furiously in the process.

"What the Hell are you-"

He pushes me over onto my back; his brown, playful eyes lock onto mine with such a deep connection, while he towers over me and looks down without saying a word.

_His eyes…_

Then, he lets his fingers move from my side, all the way up the middle part of my torso, stopping at my neck while he leans in closer towards my face. Still not speaking a word.

I can't even control myself, why is he doing this? He's toying with my mind, I just know it…

My heart pounds inside my chest, getting faster and faster as he leans in closer. Letting his fingers slowly slide down my body once again towards my waist, keeping his eyes fixated onto mine.

A playful smirk slowly spreads across his mischievous lips.

_What are you planning…?_

My heart thumps again; I stare at him blankly while he glides his fingers from my waist over to both of my sides, lifting up my shirt a little, exposing my bare skin.

"W-what are-" I breathe, while he moves closer towards me without saying another word, inches from my face; still keeping that same smile.

_Luke..._

Every fiber in my body is telling me to just reach up and kiss him, I don't know why; my body is just telling me to. Even knowing that he's nine years older than me, it still wants me to.

My heart pounds faster and faster, followed by my breathing becoming a little faint. I've never faced this kind of situation before.

"Clem…" He whispers softly, tracing one of his fingers around my belly in a small circle, his body must be telling him to do the same thing mine is…

Eventually his eyes widen a little bit, while he tenses up and freezes. He then begins to tickle my sides instead, gliding his fingers across my skin, making me flail a little; grinning wildly as I try to push him off, laughing and such.

_That was different…_

"Hey! Stop!" I laugh, trying to kick him off of me while his smile grows bigger, sitting on my legs to pin them down, and leaning over top of me, the same loving glint is still visible in his eyes.

"You won't get up, so I gotta force you." His eyes sparkle, while he continues tickling me and laughing along as well.

My headache still pounds in the background, my muscles beg me to stop trying to push him off of me.

_I've come to the conclusion that the only way this torture will stop is if I give in…_

After a few minutes of the torturous screaming and giggling I finally had enough.

"Okay! Okay! I'll get up-" I began, catching my breath with a huge smile on my face.

Suddenly, the door creaks open slowly, Luke doesn't seem to notice, but I sure do.

"What are you guys doing...?"

_Who's here? This looks kind of... Not what we're doing._

Luke stops instantly, looking over his shoulder towards the door, stammering a little before getting off of me without another word.

I turn my head, glancing at the door seeing Nick there, scowling at him.

_Well, this is really awkward..._

"I was just- tickling her." He looks at Nick who leans against the open door with narrowed eyes darting between the two of us, looking a bit hurt and upset.

"Uh-huh..." He pushes off the door, faintly smiling in my direction before cutting it off and glaring in Luke's.

"He was!" I protest, sitting up straight and crawling off the edge; still feeling a little bit dizzy.

Never mind the fact that we almost ended up doing something completely different than tickling…

_Please believe me._

Nick looks at me for a long time, before he lets out a long sigh; Luke flashes me a quick fragile smile before Nick can even notice.

My mind still lingers back to that moment that happened a few seconds ago, if Luke was willing to get that close to me then he clearly doesn't see me as a kid anymore.

My heart pounds, it wasn't what he thought we were doing... We were just playing around.

"Alright, I believe you. Let's head downstairs; Carlos found a box of tools we can use as weapons and Jane brought back a few boxes of cereal."

_Cereal? I hope it's not expired..._

"Alright, let's go Clem." Luke waits for me to leave the room first, while I remember the words Carlos said to me before I decided to sit outside and wait for them to come back from fishing.

_Hmm, it's only going to get colder up north… Maybe I should take one of the blankets? _

I grab my purple backpack, picking up the thickest blanket off of the floor and stuffing it inside. After all, it is starting to get cold lately.

Luke stands there staring at me in awe, its only common sense to take a blanket or a sweater with you.

"Blankets, huh? Smart idea..." Luke takes note of what I did.

I smile.

"It's only going to get colder." I reply.

"Yeah. Okay…" Nick mutters under his breath, still not too sure about what he just walked in on.

The tension is extremely tight around the three of us, Luke and Nick already have problems of their own going on and this just doesn't help either of them.

We all walk out of the door; I shut it tightly behind us while Nick's in the front, heading down the stairs quickly, probably in a rush to get back to his alcohol after what he just walked in on.

My heart can't help but feel pain for the both of them, they were the best of friends when I first arrived and now it's down to this? I really thought Kenny would get through to them, but since Luke hates him too; I don't think there's much hope for this friendship.

"Hey uh, Clem…" Luke mutters, interrupting my thoughts while Nick's ahead of us going down the hallway.

"Yeah?" I meet his eyes with mine.

"About what happened in the room; I got a little; carried away…" He admits, looking down and trying to hide his embarrassment as best as he can.

_I can't really say much, I never would have thought I'd enjoy that. _

I can't just admit that I had fun; he might get the wrong idea. But then again, it wouldn't be the wrong idea if I liked his presence.

"You're alright, don't worry about it." I smile softly at him, while he looks down at the steps, grinning a little bit.

_Anyways, Nick seems a bit upset... I wonder if anything else happened today, besides the obvious. Maybe it was the whole incident he walked in on?_

My eyes watch his movements as we all head down the creaky steps in silence, joining the rest of the group that's scattered around the living room.

"Good morning." Rebecca smirks slyly, sitting on the couch with a bowl of cereal and Alvin by her side who glances up from a book that he's reading, nodding in our direction.

_She probably heard everything that happened upstairs..._

I smile awkwardly in their direction, moving towards the kitchen where Carlos is rationing the food, locked deep into thought to notice me approaching him.

_He seems like he's lost in thought, I wonder why._

My stomach grumbles a little, making the pain in my head go away for a short amount of time, too bad it doesn't work all of the time.

Nick sits down on one of the chairs in the living room, while Luke sits on the other side of Rebecca, discussing plans on relocating I'd imagine since I can't really hear from over here.

_Carlos seems a bit distracted; maybe I should say something..._

"Here, eat up quick. We have to move-" He hesitates, noticing my skin going pale, and the sickly features, piercing his eyes deep into mine.

The sunlight tries to burst through the boarded up windows, you can vaguely hear the birds outside chirping and fluttering about. And slowly but surely, the staggering Lurkers snarl off in the distance.

_W-what's wrong...? I don't look that bad do I...?_

I look at him oddly, looking down at my arms noticing that I'm paler than usual, remembering what Nick said last night about how suspicious Carlos is getting lately of someone in the cabin.

He doesn't _think that- Oh no..._

I look back up at him, silently pleading. Luke knows that I'm not bit, but maybe he wouldn't believe him…

He takes the bowl back, narrowing his eyes and getting defensive.

"I should throw you outside right now..." He growls, threatening me while Luke looks over curious about what's going on.

Pain strikes through my heart, he really thinks I'm the one who's bit doesn't he?

_He wouldn't! Would he...?_

My heart pounds in fear, while he narrows his eyes in suspicion.

"C-Carlos." I barely manage to get out, terrified out of my own mind in fear that he actually would throw me outside, or worse; the shed again.

Luke's eyes widen before darkening greatly, realizing what's happening as Rebecca and Alvin sit there too shocked to even think.

"Woah, calm down! What's goin' on here?" Luke stands up from the couch beside Rebecca, heading towards us, with Nick hesitating on whether or not he should get up and do the same while clinging to his bottle.

My heart goes quiet; my headache still pounds relentlessly unfortunately. I watch Luke approach us while a wave of relief washes over my body.

"W-what going on…?" I manage to muster the courage to say something; Carlos grips the knife in his hand, not even taking the risk to check me over for a bite wound.

"You were bit, weren't you Clementine?"

I can feel a few tears sting the corner of my eyes, the images from back in the shed still scare me to this day.

"No... No I wasn't!" I protest, feeling a little dizzy and using the counter to stabilize myself, not helping my case while Carlos' hand hesitates on whether or not it should grab me.

_Maybe I should've let Nick tell him..._

The images from him deciding to lock me up in the shed a couple years ago play through my mind like a never ending nightmare. Not only did I have to stitch up my wound with thick fishing wire, a Lurker heard my screams and broke through the shed's makeshift patch job, grabbing me in the process and almost biting me.

"Then you're not feeling well?" Cautiously he approaches me, holding my face in his hand and checking my eyes and mouth for any signs of "symptoms." While Luke glowers in rage trying to hold back.

My heart pounds inside my chest, the fear washes over me uncontrollably. What if he overthinks my symptoms and sends me outside, or worse…

_What if I'm turning...? I don't want to be locked in the shed again..._

My eyes begin to tear up; the thought of being thrown in that damn thing is enough to make me cry willingly in front of everyone.

His other hand suddenly grips my arm tightly.

"Kenny, grab the gun..."

"No... No please! I'm not bit!" I plead the tears stream down my cheeks which makes Luke even more pissed off.

_He already made this mistake once, and I wasn't bit. Why won't he listen!?_

Kenny looks over his shoulder from rummaging through the toolbox that's off to the side, his one eye widens greatly while his jaw drops.

"Oh, shit…" His eyes lock onto mine, showing sadness before he looks down beside the toolbox at Nick's loaded shotgun leaning against the table leg; considering about listening to Carlos.

"Carlos she's just a kid." Rebecca musters the courage to say something, while he strongly glares at her.

"Child or not, I am not taking any more chances. Kenny, grab the gun." He speaks again, while Kenny hesitates greatly.

Rebecca shuts up, looking at me with a really worried expression on her face knowing that she can't do much.

_Kenny... He would side with Carlos?_

The tension escalates quickly throughout the room. Rebecca sits there unable to do anything to help, Alvin backs out of it trying to stay away, Nick glowers, and he must've been drinking again. And Luke... Luke's on the verge of snapping.

"Kenny, don't you fuckin' touch that gun." Luke growls, standing there keeping his eyes on Kenny and Carlos at the same time while making his way towards me.

Kenny and Luke had some, issues ever since we met up with Kenny's group at the Lodge a couple years ago; it's just been getting worse and worse each day between them and it's only a matter of time before they kill each other.

_Luke... I knew you wouldn't let this happen..._

I smile faintly; at least I have most of these people on my side.

"Kenny, do it. She's bit somewhere-" Carlos wastes no time pinning the blame onto me, despite everything I did for his daughter and for him.

"Then find the fucking mark!" Rebecca hollers from the couch, causing him to hesitate knowing that Rebecca still isn't piping down.

_Rebecca too? She used to want me dead..._

I thank her silently, her eyes dart from the gun by the table to me, nudging Alvin and trying to get him to stand up.

_W-what...? I don't have a mark!_

He tightens his grip around my arm, forcing me down to the ground. And causing my headache to pulsate even faster throughout my body.

_The pain... It hurts..._

Not only do I have to deal with the headache pain, my arm screams bloody murder as well, I don't think he broke it; for now at least.

"You're bit somewhere. You're changing! I've witnessed this before!" He ignores my frightened pleads, tightening the force he's applying to my arm. Noticing the paleness of my skin, and the sickly complexion once again.

"You fuckin' let her go. Now." Luke pulls out his machete, that dark haze covers his eyes intensely. I remember the words he said to me last night as well, 'I will protect you, Clem.'

"What the fuck? Luke don't-" Rebecca glares at Carlos and cutting herself off. Knowing that if Luke starts he'll end up murdering him. She clearly wants to get up and help; but she can't.

"She wasn't bit Carlos-" Alvin began, taking a step forward but only to be interrupted by Luke's harsh words.

"I said let her go. Or I'm hackin' your fuckin' arm off." He threatens darkly, giving Carlos some time to make the right decision.

_This is all happening too fast, I can't even think..._

The pain shoots up my arm, and towards my brain. Causing more problems than I already have going on right now.

The others stand there, motionless and too speechless to even do something about the situation, while Nick musters the strength to even stand up off of the couch, gripping the bottle in a tight grasp.

My headache throbs even harder, pounding against the walls of my skull.

Carlos smirks.

"What ever happened to 'looking after the group' Luke? Now, it's suddenly all about this girl-"

"You shut your fuckin' mouth and mind your own damn business! I care for the group too; but the second you threaten her..." He snarls, showing his true protective side finally.

Luke tightens his grip on the machete handle, looking Carlos right in the eye. Luke always bluffs, but I think this time; he might actually just do it.

_Why is he doing this...? He doesn't have to..._

"Is that so? I have watched too many people die to know how this will end-"

"Let her go. She's not bitten. She's been sick for a couple days now!" Luke hollers, cutting him off and moving closer towards us with his machete out, eyeing the position on where Carlos' hand is on my arm.

_Please Carlos, please believe me..._

The tears pour faster from my eyes. I can't even fight back because of this damn head cold.

"Carlos, she's sick. You're a doctor; fucking look at her again!" Nick steps up for the first time in an argument, walking towards Luke and debating on whether or not he should rip Carlos off of me, smashing the empty bottle against the wall and holding the jagged bottle neck.

"Shit, you two…" Rebecca mutters with a small smile.

My eyes widen.

_Nick... Did I finally gain his trust?_

Relieved, I take a deep breath; ignoring the pain pulsating through my arm and my head, knowing that the two of them have my back no matter what.

Carlos hesitates once again. Looking down at my tear stained shirt, and meeting my sad, scared eyes. Still not backing down.

"Clementine, show me where you were bitten." He calmly replies, loosening his grip on my arm.

"I-I wasn't bit..." I whisper faintly, unable to respond.

We all hesitate, Carlos' eyes lock onto mine for a very long time before realizing the mistake he had made. Luke lowers his machete, and Nick backs away a few steps, while Carlos lets go of my arm.

_I'm free...? I can't believe he let me go so easily..._

My legs quiver a little as I try to stand; Luke slips his machete back into his holder and wraps me in his arms tightly, holding me closer to him and suffocating me in his scent.

_That smell is back..._

Without thinking, I bury my face into his shoulder, wrapping my arms around his neck and trying to hold back the few remaining tears while I smile faintly. My head pounds even harder; especially with all this stress and worrying.

_I can't believe Carlos did that... Usually it's Nick who acts like that, but it was him that did it first in a long time..._

Guilt swarms over Carlos, he looks towards all of us, with a sorrowful and apologetic tint to his eyes.

"Clementine, why didn't you tell me you were sick-"

"Leave her alone. You did enough." Luke growls. Tightening his grip on me in case Carlos tries to rip me away from him again.

Nick glances down at the floor, dropping the broken bottle neck and slowly backs away from the two of us.

His heart thumps an angry rhythm; his body still pulsates with rage and hatred towards Carlos. Eventually he'll calm down again.

"it's okay kid, I'm here." He whispers quietly enough for my ears only, loosening his tight arms a little.

I hug him tighter.

"I know."

Kenny looks over at me, then back at Carlos with a hurtful expression; at least he didn't give in to what Carlos was telling him to do.

"What kind of monster are you turnin' out to be?" Luke lets go of me, and helps me stand up. Carlos doesn't say a word.

He then turns his attention to Kenny.

"And you ain't any better!"

Carlos and Kenny both look down, usually Kenny would snap at fight back with Luke. But I think he knows what he did wrong here.

"I was protecting the group-"

"From a harmless kid? Shit Carlos, you'd know if she was bit." He glares at him, trying very hard to control his anger.

He looks down again, knowing what he did wrong.

_Carlos thought I was the one bleeding… Everyone seems to look fine down here; so who is it…?_

Kenny sighs, returning his attention back to the toolbox, Rebecca and Alvin relax a little, knowing that the worst is over; Nick grabs his backpack full of booze and places it on his back, while Luke's soft eyes return once again.

"Now then, we need to get movin' before the Lurkers-"

Just as Luke was about to finish his sentence, the sound of limbs pounding themselves against every visible part of the cabin and the snarls of the undead surround us from everywhere. The smell haunts us even from the safety of being inside.

_They must've been drawn here from the yelling..._

"Well shit, that's just fuckin' wonderful." Kenny mumbles, turning his attention to the toolbox and pulling out a few screwdrivers and a hammer, hastily closing it and shoving the rest of it across the table.

"How are we going to get out of here...?" I question Kenny, avoiding Carlos' eyes ever since he pulled that stunt.

He whistles, looking at every possible escape route in the cabin that he can think of.

We all stand there waiting for an answer, the bookshelf that we used as a barricade thrashes against the Lurker's furious pounding against the door. Letting us know that we can't stay here forever.

"I'm not sure darlin', I'm not sure…"

My heart drops. We've come so far only to die where we started?

"Shit, there has to be something, right?" Nick wanders around the room, trying to stay out of sight from the hungry flesh eating monsters; Luke wraps his arms around me with a tight hug, whispering in my ear.

"Are you well enough to run, kid?"

_I don't want to seem weak._

"Yeah, I am." I assure him, returning the hug as he lets go, turning to face the rest of the group.

_We're all going to die here, aren't we...?_

Kenny hands me a screwdriver, smiling while he gives Nick another one.

"Here, these will come in handy."

I grip the red handle, looking up at Luke who glances at the front door's barricade, that's withstanding the pounding from the door trying to be forced open.

Alvin and Rebecca stand up slowly, walking towards us while Jane appears coming down the staircase, stumbling more than I was and not looking too good.

She's been in and out a lot recently, as far as I know no one's ever seen her enough to notice anything different.

_I haven't seen her in days; I wonder what happened to her._

"We need an escape plan, and fast." She peers out of the window, coughing up a little bit of blood while the Lurkers go wild wanting to claw their way inside even faster.

Carlos' eyes widen at the sight of Jane, making him feel even more guilt for accusing me.

Kenny hands Carlos the hammer and Alvin the last screwdriver without speaking a word, knowing that it was Jane who was the one coughing up blood.

"We sure as shit ain't going through the front door." He picks up the gun and makes his way to the back door, beckoning us to follow; since that's all we got.

_Jane looks, a little different than usual..._

She catches me staring at her, while she limps a tiny bit; wincing in pain and slowly making her way towards the rest of us.

We all stand at the back door with no plan whatsoever. What can possibly go wrong, right?

My headache pulses again, threatening the likeliness of another blackout.

_Don't you dare..._

"Shit there's too many of them." Kenny mutters, peeking through the back window, hiding his worried expressions for the sake of the rest of us.

_Now what..._

"Well fuck, now what?" Luke read my mind, speaking it out loud.

I look around at everyone, the front door's being pounded on by the Lurkers wanting to come inside.

Jane's eyes meet mine, they show fear for once.

"I knew I'd be screwed if I stayed with you guys." She curses, while Carlos stares at her greatly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Nick snaps, clearly he didn't like her too much in the first place.

"No, I didn't mean it like that. Look, I got bit back there and, the only way your group is making it out alive is if I create a distraction-"

"That's insane! You're not doing that. Bit or not, that's suicide." Rebecca protests, along with Nick and Carlos, while Luke stays out of it.

Jane was usually the lone wolf, she had a group at one point in time, but clearly that faded. She kept getting up and leaving over the past couple years being with us. Sometimes for weeks, other times it was months.

She smiles, thanking us quietly for accepting her into the group; even after all of the times she abandoned us.

"That's the only way you guys are getting out of here, I'm bit already so don't look back."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Kenny asks one last time, looking at all of us for our answers.

She nods her head yes. No questions asked.

"Open the door. Run." She speaks the words that seal her fate.

We all look at each other.

_Is she insane? I mean, at least we're getting out... Except for her…_

"Thank you..." Rebecca subtly smiles, while Kenny sighs, it's happening whether none of us likes it or not.

Jane looks around at all of us without speaking a word, wiping some blood away from her mouth while she takes a deep breath.

"Alright. Here we go." She coughs up blood again, wiping it away with her sleeve.

_I can't believe this is happening…_

I look up at Luke, he shows no sign of sadness or anything, causing me to worry a little bit thinking about what Carlos said about the group.

She opens the door quietly, the Lurkers notice instantly while Jane looks over her shoulder and smiles at me.

A few trees are knocked over blocking the fishing path, and the other path towards the Lodge. There are over a dozen snarling, rotting bodies staggering towards us each with the same intention; devouring all of us.

"Take care of yourself Clem, you're strong. Remember that."

And without another word, she bolts it down the back staircase, throwing rocks and yelling at the top of her lungs; gathering the attention of nearly most of them around the area.

My heart hurts greatly, letting someone like that just die the most brutal way imaginable. I can't even bring myself to look at her as she does this.

"She's tough as nails." Kenny thanks her, making the first step outside, checking to make sure there's no more of them lingering around.

My legs feel numb a little, this can't be good.

_Please don't pass out, especially not right now…_

We all move silently afterwards, a few stragglers come rushing at us, but Nick drives the screwdriver deep into one of its eyeballs, pulling it out and stabbing another one that's close by.

The blood pours down their eye sockets while the snarling stops and they fall limp.

_Disgusting... But it has to be done._

Jane's screams in agony can be heard from down by the fishing path, which means that we're running out of time.

Luke grabs his machete and hacks away at the necks, leaving bloody stumps and blood splattering everywhere; forgetting to look behind at me as the Lurkers begin to move away from Jane, and towards us.

_I really don't feel too good..._

My legs feel weak again, just like last night. My heartbeat pounds just as fast; but it also begins to slow down from the flu.

I fall behind a little, there's still so many even with Jane sacrificing herself to get us out of there. A few of them catch sight of me and stagger towards me without anyone else noticing, reaching out towards me with their skin feeling off of their muscle tissue and worn out clothing.

_This is not happening..._

I open my mouth, but no sound escapes my lips, causing me to panic even more than I already was.

My eyes feel heavy; the group's about several feet away from me, stabbing, and slashing away at the rotting body masses that slowly move towards them, not even noticing how far behind I am compared to them.

_Let's hope I have enough energy..._

I take the screwdriver and do what Nick's been doing; stabbing their eye sockets out, until my arm feels weak and requires more energy to move.

_Shit..._

There's still quite a few of them circling in around me, I notice Luke's eyes glance back behind him at the last second; and his chocolate brown eyes widen in fear as he stops immediately and starts heading towards me.

"CLEMENTINE!"

His shout caught the attention of the rest of the group, and the Lurkers.

Time slows down instantly, I can feel my heartbeat slowing down, and the blackness once again takes over my eyesight. My ears begin to ring, drowning out the snarling, and deafening the desperate cries of Luke and the others.

_So this is it..._

I smile softy, accepting my pending fate.

_Lee, Christa, Omid, Katjaa, Duck, Sarah, Sarita... So this is what it must've felt like to be scared... Knowing that you wouldn't live to see tomorrow again..._

I feel my knees slump down to the cold, wet grass. The last visual image that I see before me is Luke running towards me, slashing away at the limbs that reach out and grab him. Several gun shots fire around me as well, and the Lurkers swarming all around me like a vulture and a dying desert victim.


	4. Chapter 4 Split'er Up

It seems like forever in my mind. The darkness settles in dulling my senses and making me uncontrollably numb all over. The last thing I remember is falling to the ground, and Luke running towards me.

_What the Hell happened back there? Is this what it's like to be dead...?_

The silence is scary; nothing breaks through the darkness I see all around me, not even the brightness from being outside breaks through.

I can barely feel my own heart pulsing inside of my chest; I can't even hear anything besides this awful high pitched ringing in my ears.

_I'm still breathing, so I'm not dead..._

I feel a sudden warm touch that starts at my shoulders, and wraps around my body like a warm, fuzzy blanket as if someone is holding me close to them. I wonder if it's Luke...

My conscious finally comes around after what feels like an eternity; the light from the sun outside slowly intrudes in and keeps me from opening my eyes too much, forcing me to squint.

_It's too bright, why am I moving…?_

The panic settles in, feeling my body lightly pounding against someone else's back, as my feet dangle instead of resting against the ground, and the cool breeze that circles around me tells me that we're moving awfully fast.

The blinding light limits my vision greatly, but the ringing appears to be dying down.

"Is she awake?" I hear a familiar female voice from behind, probably directed towards me.

"No clue. Hey kid, you awake?"

I feel someone shift me upwards on their back, and the sound of shoes crunching on the dirt road, and Rebecca's vague whimpers.

_That sounds like Luke, he picked me up from the ground when I was being attacked..._

I open my eyes a little bit; the sun's glare is still strong, making me squint a little again. I notice Nick's subtle tiny smile, happy that I'm awake as he trudges on beside Luke.

My heart goes quiet, while the sound of the birds and the wind swaying through the tree branches fill the silent air circling around all of us. We've all lost people close to us, so we don't bother saying anything in fear of upsetting one another.

I look towards the forest's edge along the dirt road; we're moving awfully fast for escaping a herd of Lurkers...

My heart softly thumps against Luke's back. Finally, someone I can trust after all of the betrayal we've been through.

I meet Luke's gaze while he looks over his shoulder at me, smiling his cheerful, yet awkward smile.

_I should have known Luke's the one carrying me..._

I cough a little, nothing major or anything spills out; that's a good sign.

I regain some of my strength, tightening my arms around his neck a little while burying my face into his shoulder, inhaling his sweet scent that always reminds me of my home before the apocalypse started.

"Don't worry kid, we're almost there." He assures me, slouching forward to push me up so I don't fall backwards.

"Okay..." I wheeze a tiny bit, the fluid reached my lungs and is now starting to take in full affect.

We all walk slowly, I have no idea how long I was out for but something tells me it was a good couple hours. Rebecca's hands cling to her pregnant belly while she waddles a bit slower than the rest of us. Carlos doesn't even bother to look behind him at us while he's up at the front, ever since Luke started to hold back on group decisions Carlos stepped up and now he's the leader. Kenny, the glazed look in his eye says it all. I'm more surprised that he was being nice to me than anything despite all of the anger he took out on me over the past year.

_My head…_

I cough again, more violently than the last one. Clinging onto Luke's orange sweater while he stops abruptly; concerned for my well-being.

"Woah, hey, hey, you gonna make it?" Luke stops, sliding me back up while the others slow down a bit.

My head pounds even harder than before, why do I have to be sick now?

My fingers barely have the strength to grasp his sweater; my arms loosen around his neck while he continues to slide me upwards.

"Hold on to me, Clem."

I can't even speak to tell him that I'm trying; my throat's dried up completely and all I can taste is the blood trickling down the back of my throat.

The sunlight hides being the thick clouds that drift slowly in the sky, up ahead there seems to be really thick, grey clouds so we might get another storm; lovely.

"Shit; she needs water." Luke holds me steady as Nick walks towards us, rummaging through his bag of supplies before handing him the canteen with a jealous tint to his eyes.

Luke doesn't say much, he takes the canteen, unscrewing the cap and holding the bottle to my mouth; letting me drink until it's empty.

The cool liquid slides down my bleeding throat without any ease; it feels nice on my dry throat…

Alvin notices, nudging Rebecca to show her while she grins softly. Nick glares, wanting to take out his rum bottle and Kenny, despite the hatred him and Luke feel for each other; he still manages to smile softy at him.

"There, now we're gonna have to find more water." He teases me, pulling the bottle away from my lips and recapping it, handing it back to Nick without making eye contact with him.

That scent hits me again as I bury my face into his shoulder, tightening my grip on his sweater and my arms around his neck.

_I feel safe next to Luke; he makes me forget the past, despite everything that happened in it..._

Kenny slows down a bit, walking alongside the three of us while keeping his eye on me.

_Kenny...?_

I turn my head a little, resting my cheek on Luke's shoulder while my eyes meet Kenny's.

"You scared me, Clem." He smiles a tiny bit, while Nick and Luke scowl angrily; jealousy fills them both to the brim.

"I'm sorry-" I barely manage to speak, coughing a little while Luke's grasp tightens around my legs, trying to keep me steady.

"Don't be sorry darlin', we've had some tight close calls back in our day." He smiles once more, assuring me that we've all made it out fine.

"O-okay..." I can't help but return his cheerful smile, even after losing his cool and losing the fight to survive for a long time he manages to pull through quite well.

We all walk on silently, what else can we talk about? A lot's happened and no matter what topic someone brings up it'll always upset someone.

_Mom and dad... I miss them, but other people miss their families too._

"I can carry her from here." Kenny offers, Luke's grip tightens even more.

"I'm fine." He moves along ignoring Kenny's attempt at helping, I guess they still have a bit of bad blood left. Nick stays silent, knowing that he'll get dragged in if he says a word.

_They better not fight..._

My muscles tense up a bit, even though Kenny's been volatile towards me in the past and it limited my trust on him; I still care about him.

"No need to get overprotective; I've known her longer..." He mutters to himself, I can feel the anger inside of Luke rise greatly.

"Glad you're feeling better; kinda... We almost lost you there for a second." Nick's smile is directed towards me, trying to start some small talk.

The cloudy sky threatens another possible downpour; Nick walks beside us keeping his eyes on the forest edge. Carlos walks up ahead of all of us in silence, while Rebecca, Alvin and Kenny stagger on behind keeping an eye on Rebecca and anything else that's behind us.

"Almost lost me? Impossible." I yawn with a small smirk; my head still pounds inside my skull.

Nick's changed from the first time we were at the cabin up until now; he tried to shoot me but luckily missed when Pete and Luke brought me there. Rebecca didn't like me at all and Carlos... He questioned me greatly. But I'm amazed that Nick of all people cares about me the most.

Luke looks forward, marching on through the mid-afternoon. Pretending to ignore the connection between Nick and I, when clearly it's bugging him greatly.

"I, uh... I brought the pills from last night they're in my bag if you need them." He walks alongside Luke who burns up with a tiny bit of anger, barely holding on.

_He brought them?_

My eyes widen a bit, I completely forgot about them when we left in such a rush.

"Really...? Thanks, I'll probably need them." I turn my head from resting on Luke's shoulder to facing Nick who beams quietly, glancing down at the ground the second he notices I'm staring at him.

"You blacked out back there. And your fever's higher." Luke cuts in, glaring a little at Nick while tightening his arms around my legs, keeping me balanced on his back.

_Luke's been acting differently around Nick; I thought they were friends..._

Carlos snickers up at the front; he must know what's going on.

"Are you sure she's okay Luke? She's not doing too well-" Rebecca seems more concerned for my wellbeing rather than hers.

"She's fine, it's just the flu." He bluntly states, I guess he hates repeating himself.

"The 'flu' doesn't knock you out like that with every step you take." Carlos began, stopping up ahead a little, turning around and facing all of us with a stern expression pointed towards me.

_Why is Carlos so against me all of a sudden? It was Jane who was bit, not me..._

I cling to Luke tighter.

"Some fuckin' doctor you are." Luke mutters loud enough for only us to hear, moving forward at a quickened pace.

"Finally someone agrees..." I mutter too, he smirks.

Although I agree with Luke, I can't help but wonder what his problem is... It was a misunderstanding. Yeah, he tried to kill me but, I look like I'm turning, I'm not trying to defend Carlos, but I do look like I'm turning. Besides, Jane was the one that was bit, and oddly enough her balance was off as well. And her skin was way worse than mine... The only difference was she was coughing up more blood than her body could put out.

Several minutes drift by, as we all quickly move along the dirt road. The toppled trees sometimes block the road, but there's some room to move around luckily.

Kenny mutters some things to Alvin and Rebecca in a hushed tone, after that he slowly begins to fall behind from the rest of the group purposely.

_Kenny...?_

"Hey kiddo, I was thinkin' when we get to the Lodge if you wanna-" Luke stops mid-sentence, looking down at his feet as if he's embarrassed to talk about it, noticing that I had seen Kenny sneak away from the group.

_Huh?_

"Do what?" I question him, resting my head against his shoulder again, tightening my grip around him.

His heart pounds furiously inside his chest, pulsing against my fingers.

"Play some cards?"

The grin on my face says it all, Sarah and I have been bugging him for a long time now to play with us.

"About time you agree."

He's been avoiding that question like the plague. He'd always make up excuses as to why he couldn't play with me and her every night.

"I promise, kid."

The sun disappears behind the thick, dark clouds. Our feet trudge onward through the slightly damp soil. Suddenly, Kenny mutters something to himself, aiming the gun in the direction we came from.

_What's going on? Are we being followed?_

"Kenny...?" I call, trying to force my sore muscles to turn my head around enough to grab his attention.

"It's alright darlin' I'll be okay." He hollers back, loading the shotgun with his finger on the trigger.

Luke turns around curiously, while Rebecca is right close behind us instead of being further back with Kenny, and Alvin is right beside him with a small pistol, his eyes show the fear that he's feeling; but they also show the devotion to protecting Rebecca and their unborn child.

_When did Alvin get a gun...?_

"The Walkers are still following us-" Rebecca winces in pain once again; Alvin glances back at her quickly showing his concern before focusing along with Kenny.

"Shit, still!?" Luke sighs, shifting me up further along his back; looking over at Nick with a small tint of fear.

_We're pretty far away, how come they're still following us?_

"We're gonna have to do something." Nick glances at both of us for a few seconds, returning Luke's fear as they both gaze down at me at the same time.

_Well what can I do? There's not much..._

"Clem can't walk- at least I don't think she can." Luke began, wanting to still carry me some more. Nick spits on the ground, avoiding Luke's glare that's locked onto him.

My heart jolts a little; I don't feel safe without him or Nick, but if I have to walk on my own then I will.

"Let's find out..." I smile a tiny bit, slipping off of him purposely and landing on my feet taking him by surprise.

"Hey, don't scare me like that!" He whips around, making sure that I'm alright.

"Sorry..."

The pain still bounces around inside my head; the darkness begins to creep along the edges of my vision, threatening another blackout, which hopefully won't happen for a very long time.

_Don't pass out; I've done that enough..._

Luke steadies me by placing his hands on my shoulders, looking down at me with a worried expression, noticing that I'm still swaying around.

"You well enough to walk for a bit?" His tone implies that he's scared to let me walk knowing how easy it is for me to topple over, but at this point I don't we're going to get much of a choice.

My legs feel tingly a little, probably because I haven't used them in a long time; maybe if I get the blood circulating, I'll be okay, right?

"I should be."

He smirks a tiny bit.

"I'll protect you, just like I said."

My heart pounds furiously again, even though Lee's told me that same speech several times a day; I've never felt this way for him.

He hesitates for the longest time, wrapping me in his arms tightly, ignoring Nick in the background.

"Anytime now." Nick crosses his arms, clearly not impressed and slightly annoyed while the rest of the group slowly smirks to themselves.

"If I don't come back, stay with Rebecca." Luke ignores Nick's comment, pulling away and kneeling down to my eye level.

_What!?_

My eyes widen, I can feel a few tears sting the corner of my dry eyes.

"You're going with them?"

I remember the words Lee said to me while he handcuffed himself to the heater before he was about to turn. _'Go find Christa and Omid.'_ And look at what happened to them. I don't want to go through that again…

He smirks again, holding me once more to silence my vague crying.

"Worst case scenario, kid. Besides; I'm protectin' you; I'm commin' back." He assures me, pulling away and ruffling the top of my hair with his hand, where my hat should be…

_I knew something didn't feel right..._

"Where's my hat?" I panic. My dad let me borrow it a long time ago before they left to Savannah. It's all I have left of my parents and if that's gone... I don't even want to_ think_ about it.

Luke grins, knowing I'd freak out about it.

"In your backpack. Damn thing kept blowin' off every five minutes."

_Oh…_

I breathe easily, knowing my hat is safe and sound instead of on the ground somewhere surrounded by Lurkers.

"You better be coming back for her." Nick glares, clenching the bloody screwdriver and pushing his way past Luke with such force; heading down towards Kenny and Alvin.

"I planned on it." He mutters to himself, glancing back at me with a smile on his face, walking several paces behind Nick towards Kenny and Alvin who begins firing off rounds down the path behind us. The sickening sound of blood splattering against the ground can also be heard as well, let alone the deathly scent that follows along shortly after.

_What's really gotten into them…? It's obvious they aren't friends anymore; but why are they keeping the act up around me?_

I look around, noticing I'm a few feet behind Rebecca and Carlos; who don't slow down as they quickly try to move along to the next section.

_Well, I guess I better catch up..._

I take one last look at the two of them running back to help Kenny and Alvin far off in the distance before I scurry along to catch up with Carlos and Rebecca.

The air grows cold around us, we haven't heard any news about anything yet; let alone meet any wandering survivors that stumbled along into the forest where the cabin is. All I know is that the cold air is making Carlos and Luke really uneasy; do they know something that we don't?

_I hope they all come back in one piece..._

We walk along the road for what feels like forever, all in silence. Well aware of the fact that they might never return.

_A life without Luke or Nick...? I don't think I'd last that long truthfully. Nick always watched my back and Luke never lets me out of his sight. What would I do if I lost either of them...?_

A nice, light rainfall begins to pour all around us. The dirt on the road darkens and begins to turn into mud as we all march on quietly, without Kenny, Alvin, Nick, and Luke for quite some time now. It feels like a few hours had passed by but lately it's been hard to tell.

_I'm not sure how to feel about this, it's been awhile how come they aren't back yet?_

My head pounds furiously still, my legs wobble a little bit, but not enough to where I need to stop and take a rest. Rebecca, on the other hand…

Carlos glances behind him, noticing Rebecca shiver a little from the wetness, and my movements uncoordinated;_ very_ uncoordinated.

_He won't even stop for Rebecca..._

"Carlos is there anywhere to rest? Rebecca isn't-" I began, glancing over in her direction while he struggles to keep up.

"I'm fine." She protests, still heaving and wincing in pain, Carlos on the other hand; seems to disagree.

_Finally, he seems to have regained some sort of common sense._

"Just a little further, there is a small path that leads into another smaller cabin-"

"What about the others? How will they find us?" I question him, while we continue moving up the road, soaking wet. He watches me from the corner of his eyes.

"I'll think of something, Clementine. I know how much they mean to you." He assures me with a soft smile.

_He's been trying to get on my good side lately for what he's done... I don't know if I should accept it or not._

The rain thickens, and turns into white flurries that hastily fall around us, creating the slight chill in the air into something that we weren't prepared for. The snowfall then begins to turn the forest into a freezing wasteland of blood, sweat, and tears.

_It's getting colder, just like what Rebecca said earlier. I did good packing the blanket; I hope everyone else packed one too._

We walk for several more minutes, there's a bit of white patches of snow that's lightly sprinkled on top of the grass and pine trees, making it look very pretty; and very cold to the touch.

The flurries sting my face, I was just complaining last week how it was too hot; and now it's too cold. I keep rubbing my arms, my thin shirt isn't going to keep me warm in this season, I need to find a new jacket. Bonnie did give me a sky blue jacket; but that was a couple years ago; obviously it's too small.

It feels like an hour passed by again, the flurries thicken again; making it impossible to see behind us.

_Still no sign of them... Luke, you promised..._

I keep looking behind me, hoping I'd see Luke's stupid orange sweater stick out from between the branches and the blinding snow; but sadly I don't.

My feet crunch underneath the snow that begins to cover everything in an inch thick blanket, dimming the threat of the Lurkers being buried underneath.

_Are we there yet?_

Suddenly, Carlos stops at a barely visible wooden small cabin secluded in the dense forest surrounded by frosted pine trees. It seems ratty and abandoned; but in these days you can't be too sure anymore.

My eyes light up, a small grin spreads across my face while my headache still throbs wildly, not even the freezing flurries numb the blistering headache.

_We found it, but how will the others know we're here...?_

"Here it is, let's go." He glances behind him at us once more.

Rebecca scurries up the small pathway towards the cabin along with Carlos, keeping an eye on me as well.

"Clementine I'm sure they'll be okay, that boy never broke a promise to you yet." She smiles softly, trying to assure me.

_But Luke..._

"O-okay…"

I still turn around to look behind us just in case they're coming, shivering a little from the numbness. The flurries thicken and become more chaotic; two storms in one day; lucky us.

_I still don't see them; I really hope they're okay._

I turn back to face the small cabin, heading towards the path with them leading the way, Rebecca looks back behind her, noticing how cold I am and smiling at me softly.

"It'll be warm for us, there's a chimney for a reason."

"I know, I hope." I lower my eyes to the frosted ground beneath our feet; this sudden weather change is odd, considering it's usually sunny around this time of year.

The wind picks up, blowing the loose snow that now stings my face and toes with a fierce chill and clings to my clothes. The only good it's doing is numbing my head from the flu.

_Maybe I won't need those painkillers tonight; besides, Nick had them anyways._

Eventually I stand close to Rebecca and Carlos on the half broken wooden step, looking anxious towards the worn down wooden door that's barely hanging onto its hinges.

_What's wrong? It's abandoned isn't it...?_

Carlos glances behind him at us, a wave of fear washes over him as he does this; causing Rebecca to get a little worried.

"What's wrong...?" I question him, moving a bit closer, while Rebecca winces again, clenching her stomach in pain and breathing deeply.

_Uh oh..._

"We need to get inside, now."

_Then why did you wait for me...?_

Confused, I watch him open the creaky, old door, and the three of us pile inside the musky, darkened one room cabin. The walls are slightly damaged, all of the windows and back door are boarded up tightly, an inch thick layer of dust covers the couch, and the tables along with some spots on the wooden floor.

_Well, good to know there's no Lurkers in here or anyone else..._

I peer over in the corner noticing a small red plaid sleeping bag; clearly someone lived here at one point. I'd hate to think about what happened to them so I'll just assume they're still alive and they forgot to bring their things with them.

Carlos sets his bag down on the floor beside the couch, unzipping it and pulling out a wool blanket, beckoning Rebecca to come lie down, glad to know I'm not the only one who thought to pack a blanket.

"Carlos, are you sure?" She hesitates, looking over at me while I wander in front of her, placing my bag down on the dusty ground as well.

"I have one Rebecca, it's okay." I smile while she does the same, taking a seat on the old couch.

"Here, rest on the couch. I'll keep watch from the window and hopefully I can find them." Carlos then begins to rummage through his bag; looking for a can of food or something, muttering a few words under his breath in the process.

"Clementine, do you have any food in yours?"

_Shit; that's what I forgot._

My eyes glance around the room, avoiding contact with his for a little bit.

"No, I packed a blanket and Luke put my hat in my bag." I admit, looking back down at the floor again.

He smirks.

"So that's why you look different."

_What's that supposed to mean? I thought he'd yell at me for forgetting to pack food…_

He sighs deeply, opening the cupboards trying to find something to eat.

I watch him closely as Rebecca tries to relax; he's pushing himself too much lately, probably because of the _incident_…

"It's okay Carlos, I can manage..." I began, I know I'm starving a whole lot but really, there isn't any food in here if someone else was already living here.

He turns around; the expression on his face says it all.

"It's not fair, we need to eat too. A little girl shouldn't starve in the forest along with a pregnant woman."

"I'm not little anymore." I narrow my eyes a little, Luke already sees me as a kid still, I have no clue how Nick sees me at all.

He smiles, looking over at Rebecca who's all snug underneath the blanket with her eyes closed; I'm glad _one_ of us is enjoying the moment.

"I know you aren't, but I've known you for such a long time that I forget about that. It's a parent thing, I guess." He looks down, obviously remembering his daughter Sarah.

"I'm glad her mother left us before this mess, it gives me hope that she's still alive somewhere."

"Yeah, hope is good in times like this." I look towards the small part on the window that isn't boarded up.

_Luke, come back soon..._

Rebecca stirs around on the couch a little, trying not to make too much of a sound, getting comfortable again before laying completely still.

_I really hope she's okay... She's been in a lot of pain lately..._

A few minutes later, Carlos finally gives up on trying to find food. He heads back to the couch and sits on the floor beside me, not knowing what to say or do at all.

I watch him closely; his eyes just stay locked onto the floorboards in front of him, I've never seen him this silent for such a long time either.

The wind howls against the small wooden cabin, it's not as freezing cold as it is outside; but it's still cold none the less.

"I'm sorry that we don't have any more food." He finally says the words we all dread, but we already knew that we wouldn't have found anything in here.

"It's alright, it happens." Rebecca's face twists up in pain, before calming down again and closing her eyes.

_Maybe I should get some rest too, after all I feel like I'm getting worse._

I cough a little, covering my mouth while my head throbs insanely.

He then turns towards me.

_Shit..._

"Clementine, I really hope you can forgive me for what I've done. Nowadays when people get "sick" they usually come back as Walkers, but I now see that it's not your case."

He picks up a dusty pillow from the cold floor, wiping it off and handing it to me, smiling faintly.

I stare at him blankly, trusting people is getting a lot harder to do lately, but when someone you care about breaks that trust and then wants forgiveness, that makes it even more difficult to decide on what to do.

_You threatened to kill me, and now you want my forgiveness? I'll sleep on it._

"Thanks."

I take the pillow, placing it down in front of the old fireplace and a stack of wood. My muscles ache all over and I feel drained already.

_Maybe we could use this tonight?_

Carlos smirks, as if he read my mind. Kneeling down and picking up a few pieces and placing them on top of the ash, deciding on whether or not it'll be a good idea to light it.

"Wouldn't that be too bright?" Rebecca looks over at us with a concerning expression. The couch is about several feet away from the fireplace, and only a few feet away from us.

_Bright? We're boarded up- the smoke. Shit._

"No, we're boarded up tightly. Very little light will escape."

"Yeah, but the smoke might give us away-" I began.

"The smoke could lure the others towards us as well, plus it'll keep us warm." He protests, reaching into his pocket for his silver lighter and a crumpled piece of paper.

"And bandits." I mutter, he gives me a look that's powerful enough to hit someone physically.

"Never mind that, just rest while you can. It's going to be a massive snowstorm."

_'It's going to be a massive snowstorm.' _

_The others... What if they don't make it- or find shelter?_

My heart hurts, the fear and pain of losing anyone at this point is enough to do some damage. Luckily I've learned to ignore my pounding headache in this time of need. For now, at least.

The flame ignites the paper instantly and slowly the fire beings to lick the pieces of wood, cracking and sizzling as it gets hotter and hotter. The warm glow lights up most of the darkness inside the room as the wind picks up and starts howling against the old cabin. Just like last night, except the sound of snow hitting the wood is louder and more frightening.

I smile softly; the fire feels nice on my frozen face. I open up my bag and start pulling out my hat and blanket, placing the hat on my head and curling up with the blanket wrapped snugly around me beside the warm heat emitting from the fireplace.

_They better come soon, I feel safe with Rebecca, Carlos not so much anymore... But with Luke and Nick I'd feel a lot safer..._

I feel my toes and face unthaw, leaving me with a warm sensation surrounding the entire room, soft snores emit from the couch's direction, I'm glad she's finally getting a decent rest.

"We are nowhere near the bridge too. It could take us a couple days."

Carlos paces around the room a bit; Rebecca smiles a smug, content smile on her face as she sleeps.

_I should close my eyes and get some rest too..._

I yawn loudly, closing my eyes and settling down instantly enjoying the luxury of relaxation.

The images of today play through my mind. Luke's gaze, his hesitation when he pulled away from me, and his comforting smile, Nick's sober new act, he's starting to smile now, and the fact that he had the painkillers for me, and Kenny's rough attitude. The way he silently broke away from us scares me. Knowing that he can easily do it again is what hurts me the most.

What feels to be several minutes later, the silence was ruined by Carlos' frantic pacing, and hushed whispers to himself. Scurrying around the big room trying to find something important by the sounds of it.

"Shit. Not now..." He mutters, giving up and starts walking towards me quietly as Rebecca sleeps soundly.

_What happened?_

I groggily open my eyes; Carlos kneels down trying to keep his voice from being any louder than it usually is, terrified out of his mind and for the concern of Rebecca's safety.

"We've got someone approaching the cabin; and it's not anyone we know."


	5. Chapter 5 Blonde Hair, Blue Eyes

I sit up straight, rubbing my eyes a little; letting the words that Carlos said sink into my half-awake mind.

"What!?-"

"Shh." Carlos hushes me.

_What's going on...?_

Just after I said that, a slight knock is heard on the wooden door, almost drowned out by the howling wind. The knocking furiously and relentlessly doesn't give up.

_Not now... Why does it have to be now?_

My head throbs lightly, indicating that by tomorrow it shouldn't be as bad; hopefully.

Rebecca stirs around some more on the couch, before falling back asleep. Carlos tenses up, clearly not wanting to answer the door.

"Clementine." He whispers, locking onto my eyes.

"Yes?"

"Protect Rebecca."

The wind howls against the structure, the sound of the snow chipping against the wood threatens a cave-in from the roof.

I nod my head silently.

"H-hello...?"

The faint voice could clearly be heard even during this storm, which baffles both of us.

My eyes widen in fear, who could possibly be wandering about out here?

Carlos hesitates, the voice repeats again, while the wind and snow mix together and blow against the small wooden cabin.

_What do we do? Maybe they need help? It is storming out..._

Carlos' eyes glance down at the loaded revolver that I placed on the table that's close by Rebecca and I. Then his eyes meet mine, hinting that I should keep it pointed at the door.

_He trusts me with his life, I can do this._

Nodding silently, I reach for the revolver and aim it at the front door, Carlos shakily reaches for the doorknob; opening the door into the blur of snow and wind outside.

"H-Hi..." The skinny, young woman dressed in thick winter clothing looks up at Carlos with bright blue eyes and snow frosted light blonde hair. Trying to force out a friendly smile, while her eyes keep glancing behind her.

_She's beautiful, why is she outside all alone?_

I hesitate a little, should I still stay on her, or give her a chance?

"Where is your group?" The first words Carlos says to her, crossing his arms across his chest and blocking her from coming in or peeking inside.

_Carlos is defending us...?_

Confused, I still keep the revolver locked on her, doing just as what Carlos had told me. If he doesn't trust her, then I shouldn't.

My headache throbs lightly, while the revolver shakes a little in my grip.

"I- I don't want any trouble..." She holds back tears; she can't be any older than 20, but then again looks can be deceiving.

Carlos looks at me, very confused, while I shrug my shoulders, staying hidden beside the table and the couch.

_This doesn't seem right at all, but maybe she seen where Luke, Kenny and the rest went..._

My headache pulses lightly, not enough to break my focus though.

"Then why are you here?" He doesn't budge one bit.

Her eyes water up greatly while the faint snarls and groans can be heard from further down the path. And the rotting smell isn't far behind either.

"No explanation needed." Carlos understands, moving away and welcoming her into our "home."

_The Lurkers are out there, please be alright..._

She walks in slowly, stopping dead in her tracks while her eyes lock onto the revolver I have pointed at her.

The light from the fireplace illuminates our shadows against the wall, while the storm rages onwards outside into the night.

_Do I lower the revolver? Or do I keep on her in case something happens?_

I slowly lower the gun while she walks calmly towards me; Carlos shuts the door tightly, barricading the door with a couple tables.

_What does she want?_

"I won't hurt you, I promise." She smiles at me.

I stare at her blankly.

My heart feels weird; I haven't trusted anyone ever since Jane came in the picture.

_I don't know; she could be a spy._

I narrow my eyes at her while I keep my finger on the trigger, she looks uncomfortable.

Carlos simply walks over, keeping his eyes on her.

"Have a seat. We will discuss this."

Carlos seems unhappy letting her in while Rebecca is here, sometimes he can be foolish, and trust the wrong people; but I definitely heard Lurker noises not that far behind her. And I'm not a one to watch someone get eaten alive.

_Nick and Luke better be okay... I hope Kenny and Alvin are too, but I can't lose Nick or Luke..._

My legs feel wobbly, while my head pounds crazily. The thought of losing either of them is enough to send me insane, especially Luke.

I slowly sit back down on the floor in front of Rebecca who's somehow still sleeping through all of this.

_I wonder how she'll react when she wakes up..._

My eyes dart from the strange woman to Rebecca, if she lays a finger on her...

"Who are you?" Carlos bluntly asks, keeping his eyes on her.

The wind doesn't die down, along with the Lurker snarls and the smell of snow and rotting flesh combined waifs through the old, wooden cabin walls.

She fidgets a little, looking around at all of us with a revengeful gleam in her eye, before looking down at the floor.

_I knew it..._

My finger sticks to the trigger like glue. She knows who we are.

"M-My name is Claire, my group and I was attacked by a madman and his group. I-I ran away and saw smoke-"

"I told you..." I mutter under my breath, looking at Carlos. He looks at me, knowing I was right.

"I-Is she pregnant?" She questions Rebecca and forgetting about me cutting her off.

Rebecca groggily begins to wake up, looking around the room, unaware that there's a new face in here.

"Yes." I glare at the woman, keeping the gun lowered so she doesn't know.

"I have a son, he's still alive somewhere..." She smiles up at me, trying to make a connection or something.

"How do you know?" I try not to sound rude; but it's a zombie apocalypse out there; good luck finding anyone you know still alive.

She smiles a tiny bit, understanding what I'm really trying to say.

"I've seen him recently today, he hates me but I'm glad he's still alive."

My eyes narrow while I keep quiet, if I keep talking to her she'll think I trust her.

Carlos brings her a small bowl of beans and a spoon, while sitting down on the floor next to both of us.

_Why would he hate his mother? And who exactly is her son, did we run into him before?_

"Who the Hell is she?" Rebecca sits up, wrapping the blanket around her and glaring at the blonde woman.

Carlos smirks a little, knowing that Rebecca would say that.

"This is Claire. Walkers are outside-"

"Alvin..." Tears stream down her cheeks as she covers her face and sobs silently, Carlos looks down, knowing that it's a slim chance we'll never find them alive.

I stay silent.

My heart is still, we lost Jane today and now we lost the rest of them...

Carlos looks Claire right in the eye, as she glances at Rebecca and I, hesitating on something.

_I think she's lying..._

"What did they look like?" His eyes pierce hers and hook all of her attention onto him.

"Who? The group?" She asks quietly, eating the canned beans.

Carlos nods his head, not breaking his concentration from her.

"W-well, the madman had a shotgun and an eye patch-"

_Kenny..._

"Where did they go?" I cut in; I need to know if they're safe.

She looks at me oddly.

"T-There was only him, and two younger boys I don`t know where they-"

Rebecca sobs even harder, Alvin probably sacrificed himself to save the others he'd always say he'd do it, and I guess he did.

Alvin was quiet mostly, but he always defended Rebecca and even when she was pregnant before knowing it wasn't his kid he still stayed by her side and put up with the pain.

I look down at the floorboards, still holding the revolver between my fingers underneath the sheets; tears sting the corner of my eyes considering I've been with these people for a long time now.

"T-They killed my group, and murdered my husband..." Claire protests, while she glances up at her and narrows her eyes.

"Kenny would never do such a thing! Unless you threatened us, or them." I cut her off again, calling her bullshit and getting ready to raise the revolver.

_I should just shoot her right now._

She looks baffled, glancing at Carlos as if he'd back her up against me or something.

Rebecca's sobs grow louder and louder, drawing the snarling noise towards us.

_She's calling the Lurkers right to us, we can't just shoot her to shut her up; I'll have to think of something._

"Rebecca you will lead the Walkers to us, please don't put you or Clementine at risk." Carlos beats me to it, while she stops wailing, cradling her pregnant belly.

My heart hurts, Alvin and Rebecca have a tight history together. Then finding out he died while she's ready to have his baby? Can this world get any more fucked up?

"What did you do to him...?" Her eyes grow dark, not buying her story one bit now.

_Glad to know I'm not the only one._

The wind bashes against the small wooden cabin, the ice and snow pellets rapidly chip away at the wood outside.

Claire looks worried; she keeps glancing at the door and avoiding the question.

_I knew she was suspicious…_

"What did you do to my husband?" She asks again, this time with more venom and power in her voice.

"O-Okay, someone from our small group shot him and then they attacked." she cries a little, begging her to forgive her. Just like how that woman begged for Christa's forgiveness in the abandoned bathroom after she shot Omid.

Rebecca's silent, Carlos glares at Claire greatly, knowing I was right all along.

"Alright, you need to leave. You put their lives at risk, you are not putting ours in danger either-" Carlos began, standing up and waiting for Claire to follow.

Claire's smirk widens, looking slowly up at Carlos and reaching into her pocket, pulling out a gun and aiming it directly Carlos.

"I like it here, and so will my group..."

His eyes widen, realizing the danger he put all of us in.

_That's it…_

"I knew it..." I spit viciously, raising my revolver to her head while she hesitates.

"You're a smart kid, Clementine. My husband was right about you. Until that madman bashed his face in."

Confused, I look at Carlos, and then Rebecca who glances up at Claire, knowing damn well who she's talking about.

_We've only bashed one person's face in..._

"Well, your husband raped me a couple years ago." She smirks, standing up from the couch. Looking at me from the corner of her eye.

It finally clues in who this is.

Carver's wife.

Confused, my heart grows numb, retreating deep inside of my chest and escaping this horrible fit of emotions coursing through my veins.

Claire's eyes narrow.

"He would never."

Rebecca snickers, pissing her off greatly.

The gun switches to Rebecca instead of Carlos.

"You're lying." She sneers, shaking a little.

"Rebecca what are you doing?" Carlos protests, not liking where this is going at all.

_I need to save her; she's done so much for me._

"Claire, put the gun down..." I began, walking carefully towards her while Rebecca does the same.

Flashbacks of Lee when he used to do this to the people we've come across flash quickly through my mind, he must have been scared like I am right now as well...

She bites her lip, hesitating a lot while Carlos doesn't know what to do.

"Claire, do not shoot her." Carlos cautiously walks over beside me, glancing at the gun and Rebecca.

_If she shoots Rebecca..._

"Why would I do that, Carlos?"

The trigger clicks, firing a bullet straight into Rebecca's pregnant belly and creating a deafening ringing sound.

_No..._

Carlos watches too horrified to even move, I on the other hand; feel something snap inside my brain, wiping away every shred of humanity I have left.

"You... Fucking idiot." I growl, firing off several rounds into Claire's torso; leaving her on the ground to bleed out.

The smell of blood drips heavily in the air, a constant reminder to Carlos and I that we ended up killing three human beings tonight instead of one.

_Why did I hesitate? I knew she was going to shoot her..._

Rebecca curls up on the floor beside the couch, clinging to her belly while the blood seeps through her shirt dripping all over the floor creating a small pool, along with a pink tinted strange fluid. Looking up at Carlos with fury and sadness in her eyes.

"What have I done...?" Carlos barely manages to say the words, collapsing on the floor beside her and tries to look at the bullet wound.

"Rebecca..." I can feel more tears escape from the corner of my eyes, she smiles softly at me; before crying out in pain.

"C-Clemen...t-tine..." She can barely speak, sobbing heavily for the loss of her husband, and her unborn child.

_That's another two to the death count. When will this all stop...?_

"No..." I drop to the floor with Carlos, trying to stop the flow with old dishcloths nearby while he looks at me with a doubtful expression.

"The baby." That's all he can say, trailing off the conversation while he holds her hand, comforting her.

_I can't even think, what the Hell did I just witness?_

I look down at Rebecca who holds my gaze with her sad eyes. The mess of blood and fluid is starting to flow even faster from the open wound.

_There's nothing we can do, Nick had the painkillers and I don't think they're coming home tonight..._

Rebecca howls again in pain, the blood drains faster from her face and skin, turning her extremely pale.

_I'll fucking kill Claire. If It's the last thing I'll do..._

I grip the revolver; my eyes darken while I turn around to face Claire on the floor, pointing the gun at her head.

"N-no... P-please..." She begs for her pathetic life, as if she'll live through all the holes I put in her.

"Why would I do that?" I growl, putting a little pressure on the trigger.

Her bloody hand reaches upwards towards me shakily, her blonde hair's matted down with her crimson red blood, and tears stain her cheeks as well.

I aim straight between her eyes, she sighs in defeat; knowing I'll do it regardless.

My heart doesn't do anything; any remorse or guilt completely vanishes. I can't feel any kind of emotion anymore. That's not good...

"D-Do it..." She splutters, blood drips from her mouth while the holes in her body ooze the red liquid all over the wooden floor.

Carlos holds Rebecca, knowing there's no point in trying to save her or the baby. Rebecca's tears slowly fade away as she rests her head on his shoulder. Gazing at me with really clouded pupils.

"It would be my pleasure..." I sneer; pulling the trigger and watching Claire's beautiful face explode into a mess of flesh, blood, and tears.


	6. Chapter 6 Keeping It In The Family

Carlos sits on the cold floor beside Rebecca's dead corpse. Looking down at her with sad eyes and letting the time tick by slowly without doing anything about it.

_I shot Claire for killing Rebecca, Carlos must feel horrible for hastily letting her in, he's been making a lot of mistakes lately..._

I glance over at him while he closes Rebecca's eyes, hesitating on if he should put a bullet through her skull or not.

The wind is quiet, and my head doesn't pound a whole lot. Which means I'm finally feeling better again.

_It would be the right thing to do; it's better than coming back as a Lurker. _

I turn back around, stuffing my blanket inside my purple bag; the flames in the fireplace are nothing but crisp embers that vaguely light the huge room.

_Did I really murder someone like that? I can't believe I did that without thinking._

I look down at my hands that are slightly covered in blood, it had to be done, she would have killed us after Rebecca.

_But I did it to protect myself and Carlos... Like how Lee protected me._

Carlos walks over slowly, picking up the revolver that's down by my feet. Avoiding my eyes at all costs. He knows it's time.

_He's going to destroy her brain, so she won't come back. It's what she would have wanted anyways..._

I remember her always telling me not to let her become one of those things, if I had to kill her while she was still alive she'd want me to instantly. But I'm not the one making the choice right now, Carlos is.

I stand up slowly, Carlos fires the last bullet into Rebecca's skull; making sure she won't return followed by faint sobs emitting from his direction.

I can't help but feel bad; I should have just shot Claire the second I suspected something. I had no idea Carlos would be this upset; considering she was married.

He reaches into his pocket, pulling out several more bullets and reloading the chamber while walking towards me, placing the gun in my pocket without another word. His eyes avoid mine but his body language says it all.

_Carlos hasn't spoken in the past hour ever since the incident. I wonder if he'll ever come around._

My eyes gaze on him as he moves about the cabin, collecting anything useful and packing up his bag.

I still can't feel my heart at all, I feel perfectly fine; minus the fact that I can feel my sanity slipping away. But what did you expect, it's kill or be killed now.

I turn around, glancing down at the two bodies that are coated in dark blood and the smell of death and gunpowder emits from both of them.

"We need to leave, Clementine. You're looking much better today too."

After several minutes of silence, he finally opens his mouth and uses his voice.

"Alright..."

I don't ask any more questions, Carlos doesn't want to be here any longer and I don't blame him. I just don't know how we'll find the others like this though.

_Maybe they are out there somewhere, if I know Luke he's probably ripping into Nick right about now too. They uses to be such great friends but now they're drifting apart._

I pack up the rest of my belongings, peeking between the wooden boards on the window. The storm seemed to have calm down, and it's now just a light snowfall. The sky is a nice twilight colour outside, daylight will eventually come. Maybe we'll find them.

Carlos pulls the wool blanket over Rebecca's corpse, glaring at Claire's in the process. He stands there silently, unable to peel his eyes off of Rebecca.

"I'm sorry..." He mumbles faintly, turning around and approaching the door, slowly moving the tables out of the way.

_He really seems depressed..._

"Carlos, I'm here if you need me." I walk towards him slowly and giving him a hand with the table.

He's still silent, accepting my help with a simple nod.

"It's alright, I've screwed up enough. I've put the life of Rebecca and her baby at risk, I almost killed you, it's a matter of time before we die as well." He sighs, scraping the table against the wooden wall as we pull them away from the door.

_Wow, he really took a turn for the worse... _

I go silent, he has a good point. I hate to admit that but at least he knows his mistakes.

The light begins to break through the small cracks on the door, so much for sleeping.

He deeply sighs, knowing that none of us had gotten any sleep from the whole incident last night.

He clenches the hammer in one hand while opening the door with the other, looking around the snow covered forest with a surprised expression.

_The snow can't be that bad, can it?_

The trees are frosted with snow, and the ground is covered completely. Which can be a bad thing considering Lurkers could be buried underneath.

The light snowfall starts up again, creating huge flakes that gently fall around us. I can't help but smile a tiny bit, I've always loved winter; I just wish it wasn't this cold.

"The snow is two feet deep, watch your step." He steps out of the cabin, sinking down into the frozen texture that covers every inch of the ground, and that clings to the bare tree branches all around us.

_'Where are we going to go?' 'Where's the rest of our group?' 'How come we're still alive?'_ All of the questions I want to ask him, but I know well enough if I do it'll cause more stress on his part.

The freezing air sinks through my thin clothes and stings my skin, and they say we're the lucky ones surviving.. That's a load of shit.

The cloudy sky makes it impossible for the sun to break through, we're only going to get colder it seems.

My stomach grumbles, I didn't even eat last night because Claire and Rebecca had the last bit.

Carlos heads out first, glancing behind him at me to make sure he doesn't lose me either. The snow crunches under his weight and gives away as we walk slowly and cautiously down the small path.

_Guys please be alright somewhere, anywhere. Just please be alive..._

I've known Kenny since the day this started basically, ten years in and we're still alive together. Nick and Luke both mean the world to me, and even though Lee's done a number for me; teaching me how to survive and the basics, I'd be lost without those two idiots.

We continue in silence, I step in Carlos' footprints so I don't get as soaked. He just continues moving on up the road to the bridge.

The snow starts to sting my face a little, my toes feel icy numb as well. And we've only been out here for not even an hour.

"Why is it getting so cold all of a sudden..." Carlos mutters under his breath, stopping abruptly and raising his hammer.

I stop dead in my tracks as well, did he hear something?

"Quiet, something's coming this way."

The second he said that, the tree branches shake near the edge of the forest that's blocked by the thick bushes, maybe it's a deer if there's any left; I'm starving.

I lick my lips, the thought of biting into that delicious meat is enough to fill me right up, I raise the revolver; aiming at the movement.

_I don't even know if it's a deer, I'm too hungry to care at this point._

I notice something oddly familiar while the rustling branches move closer and closer, and a faded orange colour that's vaguely visible through the thick bushes.

_Huh...? It can't be..._

I lower the gun, standing there in awe as two figures emerge from the brush with bruises and cuts all over them, their eyes light up the second they see me.

"Clem..." Luke's smile brings warmth to my body from the frigid cold air. He wraps me in his arms without giving me a minute to speak, pressing me against his warmth.

_Thank god... _

My body burns being heated up from his in this frozen forest, tears of happiness drip down my cheeks while he hugs me tighter.

Carlos smiles, probably the first smile he's ever cracked ever since we split up from them.

"I'm sorry kid; I thought we'd be back earlier." He buries his frozen face against my neck, clinging to me tighter.

"It's okay..."

_I don't care, I'm glad he's safe..._

My heart slowly begins to return, thumping smoothly again while he snickers a little, pulling away and looking down at me with his smile still there.

Nick looks down, trying to hide his anger, standing there awkwardly while Luke clings to my side.

_We're missing someone..._

My eyes widen, I forgot all about him...

"Where's Kenny...?" I question him, Luke's eyes look at me oddly.

"He was right behind us, I think." He turns around and stares at the makeshift path they came from, feeling a bit nervous.

My heart drops, another one to the death count I guess.

Suddenly, more rustling appears and out pops Kenny, clinging to the shotgun and looking behind him with a worried expression on his face.

_I knew he couldn't die that easily._

I smile a tiny bit; my family is safe and sound, most of them anyways.

"Glad we all caught up, now let's get the Hell outta here." He smiles a little at me, glad that I'm safe.

_Is something wrong...?_

I look up at Luke who avoids my gaze, Nick does the same thing.

_That's not good._

Carlos heads over towards us, while Kenny's mouth drops. Noticing there's only two of us.

"Where's Rebecca?"

We all fall silent, letting the snow drift around us in the early morning sunrise.

_Someone's going to have to say it..._

"Claire shot her." I speak up, knowing Carlos doesn't want to say it.

"Shit, she found you guys too?" Kenny exclaims, gripping the shotgun tightly.

"Yeah..." Carlos avoids his gaze.

Luke's fingers form a fist, hatred burns in his brown eyes while Nick backs away slowly, locking eyes with me.

"She killed Alvin and her group's still-"

Nick can't even finish his sentence without the sound of people hollering and the sound of gunfire behind us.

_Shit, that's why Kenny wanted us to move._

"Oh for fuck's sake." Kenny curses, reloading his shotgun and walking towards them, glancing back at me with a soft expression.

"I'll take care of it, darlin' don't worry." He spits on the ground, glancing back at Carlos who returns the gaze with a small, tiny smile.

"You're fuckin' nuts!" Luke shouts.

Carlos glances at all of us, and then back at Kenny, gripping the hammer in his hand.

_They can't be serious can they?_

Confused I watch him carefully; I hope he isn't going to do what I think he's going to do...

"Run, take Clementine and run." Carlos hollers to Luke while he sprints towards Claire's group with his hammer without another word and Kenny raises his shotgun, cursing.

_And, he did it..._

"Fuckin' really?" Luke mutters, not believing what he's seeing.

"Shit Carlos." Nick watches in awe, amazed that he'd actually put himself in that type of situation.

My heart panics, we've already lost four people in a couple days now. I don't want to lose them too.

"Tie them up and catch that damn girl." One of them hollers at the others, they all spread out and head down towards Carlos and Kenny who look confused.

_This can't be happening, first Lurkers and now bandits? Can we have one damn break, just one!_

"Shit. You well enough to run, kid?" Luke turns to me, pulling out his machete, while Nick moves closer towards us silently.

My headaches gone, and I haven't felt sick since yesterday, I should be able to.

"I think I can-"

"Good. Run."

_What?_

Without giving me a warning he grabs my arm, dashing down the road through the thick snow with Nick right behind us. The agonizing screams from Carlos and Kenny are loud enough to feel the emotion while a couple members from that group beat them brutally.

"Shoot them! Teach that fucking coward a lesson!"

_W-what...?_

"NO!" I holler without thinking, Nick covers my mouth while Luke thinks of something to do.

Two gunshots are heard in the distance. Followed by the maniac laughter that roars right after they fall to the ground; dead.

_T-they shot them..._

"Shit..." Luke's expression softens, that's two more to the death count.

"Kenny..." My tears freeze to my cheeks, after everything we've all been though this is how he has to die...

Carlos and Kenny spent many months making sure that I was alright whenever Luke or Nick were gone. I wasn't just watched over by those two morons; the entire group pitched in, and helped me. All though I've had doubts on Carlos before, when he threatened to kill me a day ago, I feel bad that he died so I could get away. No one should have to throw their life away for me; Lee already did that... And then Kenny, he was supposed to stay here longer. He wanted to die, before, but he always kept saying he had something to fight for so he didn't want to die just yet.

"Get the damn girl! It's what Avery wanted anyways!"

The gunshots whiz past us, nearly grazing Nick's shoulder, they must have a lot of ammo stockpiled somewhere if they can waste it like this.

_Avery...? _

"I thought her name was Claire..." I mutter under my breath, I guess she lied to us about that too.

"Claire's her mother. She's the one runnin' this; not Claire." Luke darkly replies, urging us on forward into the thick snow that coats the dirt road ahead of us, leaving us out in the open once again.

_How does Luke know all of this? It's like he knew those people before this started..._

"How do you know all of this?" I question him as we continue to sprint down the snow covered road.

The shouts are faint this time, maybe we just might escape this.

Luke goes silent, avoiding my eyes and sighing deeply knowing that sooner or later, he'd have to tell me.

"Avery is my sister."

* * *

_**A/N IMPORTANT! - Hey guys!** **I am in the progress of finishing up Burning Daylight AND re-editing all of my chapters (focusing on 3-6) BECAUSE personally I feel that I rushed them (A chapter every 4 days, I'd shoot myself if I ever do that again) and they aren't the best to my ability of writing in my opinion. (I'm known for being very descriptive and gory in English class, lol and I will admit I noticed my quality slipped after chapter 2, I just didn't have time to finish/edit.) I WILL NOT be changing the story majorly; maybe a little few upgrades and little pointless details added in, that's about it for that one. Chapter 7 IS GOING TO BE THE ENDING CHAPTER! YAY! :D and it's going to be longer than the first chapter I posted (over 9.8k words) as I'm trying to avoid my deadly cliffhangers I have a habit of doing (Hehehehe.) So I do not have a set date for this; my best bet is over a month or two depending on my time and with all of the current life events happening right now. But feel free to check out the chapters and see how I'm changing them around! I'll keep you posted on my profile for any more news! Thanks for sticking around :) Also! I am doing the same for my other stories as well (Focusing on Atrax over The Lion Witch, while I'm just starting Digital Downfall (A Markiplier fanfic)) For some of you that have noticed my other stories I thank you deeply. I thank each and every one of you for encouraging me to continue to write; and give me the confidence in my writing ability to post the rest of my work. I promise you once I get these issues sorted out I will return to edit til' my heart's content, and bring forth my full potential. I can't thank you guys enough, I PM'd most of you about this so I guess this is for my Guest viewers and sorry for ranting. XD Sept 21st, 2014 - BURNING DAYLIGHT IS ON HOLD! ALONG WITH THE REST OF MY STORIES DUE TO BEING IN MY LAST YEAR OF HIGHSCHOOL AND I'M BEING ATTACKED WITH WORKLOADS! I WILL WRITE WHEN I CAN, I'M STILL WORKING ON EDITING CHAPTERS 4,5 AND 6 FOR THIS STORY, NO WHERE NEAR DONE CHAPTER 7 AT ALL. P.S SORRY FOR THE YELLING :)**_


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